New levy on city taxis starts today

By Juliet Waiswa

KAMPALA Capital City Authority (KCCA) will today Monday June 17 start enforcing the sh120,000 levied on commuter taxis in the city, the spokesperson  Peter Kaujju has said.

The move comes after Kampala minister, Frank Tumwebaze directed that they start paying the monthly set fees.  Kaujju explained that KCCA gave the drivers a grace period of three weeks to clear their dues. He said all taxis operating in Kampala which have not complied with payments for the month of May and June will not be allowed to operate in the city.

Last month Tumwebaze directed that all drivers and owners of the commuter taxis to start paying the fees again, despite a Kampala High Court ruling.

In March last year drivers and conductors led by Drivers and Conductors Central Association (DACCA) and the National Union of Taxi Operators (NUTO) petitioned court challenging the payment system introduced by KCCA. The petitioners were led by Mustafa Mayambala, Henry Charles Ssentongo, Rashid Mugenyi, and Yose Kaweesa.

On 10 April court stopped KCCA from levying the sh120, 000 stating that KCCA was collecting the tax without an enabling law to justify its existence. 

KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi , said the latest minister's directive comes as revenues have sharply dropped off since a court ordered KCCA to halt charging the taxi operators.

"The Authority has lost over sh1bn since the court made the ruling. We shall implement the levy since the Minister for Presidency has powers to make orders over management of Kampala city," Musisi told the press last month.

The minister had ordered that collection of fees start immediately in May. "We are resorting to using computerized stickers for vehicles since there is a lot of forgery involved in receipts and drivers claiming that they had paid KCCA officials. The stickers will be easily detected by use of special mobile phones," Kaujju said.