FED UP: Taxi operators demand Old Taxi Park be reopened

The leadership of taxi drivers has  asked Kampala Capital City Authority to hand over the old taxi park in its present state as they have suffered a lot while operating on the road side.

Kampala City Council Authority has continuously extended the reopening of Old Taxi Park claiming that they have other facilities to install  in the park.

Initially the renovation of the old taxi park was supposed to take only 3 months, after the delay in May 2021, however up to date the park is still out of bounds to the public.

The taxi operators have now asked KCCA to hand it back to them.  

One of the taxi operators leaders Mustafa Mayambala says their confidence in the authority has been shaken, “Why think of adding things that weren’t in plan initially? They knew the number of people using the park and then claim they have not constructed enough toilets. What is going on?” 

Kampala city mayor Erias Lukwago directly accuses the KCCA Ag. Director Legal Affairs Caleb Mugisha of delaying the reopening of the park.  

Lukwago claims that in a 20th November council meeting, the matter of reopening the taxi park was brought up. However, the KCCA legal affairs department derailed the suggestion. The legal affairs wing says there are pending matters in court over the old taxi park. 

Efforts to talk to the technical wing of KCCA were unsuccessful as we were informed that they were in a meeting.

There are suggestions that ownership of the land on which the taxi park sits is in dispute. 

Lukwago further claims the leases for the land have expired. 

He says, “First of all the rich men who owned land in the park got it illegally, and if it's true people own part of the park, let govt refund their money.” 

The shs4.3 billion that KCCA used to renovate the old taxi park was a grant from the Netherlands.

Currently all the former users of the facility are operating where they can on the road side.