Boda-Boda Operators Strike Over Sh500 Fee

Nov 07, 2001

HUNDREDS of boda-boda operators in Kampala city yesterday went on strike, protesting the re-introduction of charges on their operations.

By Herbert Ssempogo HUNDREDS of boda-boda operators in Kampala city yesterday went on strike, protesting the re-introduction of charges on their operations. The protestors stormed the headquarters of Kampala City Council seeking audience with the mayor. They interrupted the flow of traffic on Kimathi Avenue. The men who were chanting “twagala meeya’’ (we want the Mayor) stopped all their colleagues from working. The mayor later had a meeting with the men at the City Hall in which he suspended all kinds of charges on the boda-boda operators until a tentative decision is reached by Kampala City Council. Ssebaana said, “Kampala City Council will soon have a meeting in which a decision on the money you have to pay will be made,’’ causing applause punctuated with chants of “our man’’ from the protestors. The boda-boda operators proposed that they pay a monthly fee of sh7,000 for motorcycles and sh2,000 for bicycles. They said a fee of sh500 per day was too much. Media reports last week said the mayor had ordered all the organisations collecting money from the boda-boda operators in the Central Division to stop until they get communication from the city council. Moses Luswata, one of the boda-boda operators said, “The men are driving us out of business. They do not mind whether your bike has been in the garage for sometime. All they want is money.’’ He said groups that collect money like the Uganda Association of Motor and Bicycle Operators (UAMBO) are very rough. He said they torture the bike riders. The protestors said the LC3 chairman Kampala Central Division defied the orders of the mayor and went ahead to collect taxes over the weekend. Ends

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