Pioneer to import another 400 buses

Dec 28, 2013

Directors of Pioneer Easy Bus Company are preparing to resume operations before the end of next month.

By Brian Mayanja

Directors of Pioneer Easy Bus Company are preparing to resume operations before the end of next month.

Following the release of 99 buses by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) last week, directors of the bus company vowed not to resume business, until a new contract is signed by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

But John Masanda, one of the directors, has said: “Hopefully, we shall resume business before the end of January. We are in talks with Government officials and we are lobbying for the contract to be signed and implemented.”

 Under the new contract, the owners of the bus company want the Government to put in place a special bus lane and create exclusive routes for buses.

Under such an arrangement, all Multiplex parking slots will be taken up by the bus lane. According to Masanda, leaders in Wakiso, Mpigi and Mukono districts are willing to sign contracts with the bus company.

 The buses have been grounded since May, when URA attached them due to failure by the bus company to clear tax arrears amounting to sh8b.

In the same month, URA announced that it would auction the buses to recover the money.

The bus company has been negotiating with the tax body and the Ministry of Works and Transport for the last six months to have the buses back on the road.

The buses were released after their owners signed an agreement with URA, allowing them to pay in instalments.

The owners of the bus company agreed to pay between sh270m and sh300m every month, for 24 months, to clear the outstanding tax arrears of sh8b.

Meanwhile, the bus company has embarked on servicing its bright orange buses, which have remained parked at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.

Masanda said the firm has been losing about sh40m everyday for the six months the buses have been grounded.

Rebecca Athieno, the company’s legal officer, disclosed that as soon as operations resume, plans are underway to import another 400 buses by June 2014, to

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