KCCA to probe Pioneer Bus over high fares

By John Semakula and John Masaba

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) will probe Pioneer Easy Bus Company for hiking transport fares in the city without consulting the authority.

KCCA spokesperson Peter Kaujju said any increment in the fares is subject to consultations between KCCA and the bus company.

“The bus company was supposed to consult us before increasing the fares, but they did not. We are going to engage them,” Kaujju said.

The company hiked its fares on all city routes, leaving the public with a ‘bitter pill’ to swallow as they dig deeper into their pockets to pay for the additional fees.

“At the start of their business, Pioneer Bus officially came out on radios and said they would not hike fares, unless they consulted Jennifer Musisi. I wonder if Musisi is aware of this,” Jerome Matsanga, a commuter from Mutungo, said.

The move comes three months since the company joined the city transport business, shooting down the hopes of many Ugandans of travelling cheaply.

The changes also affected the Kampala-Mukono route, which the buses began plying three weeks ago.

From sh1,000, which the passengers were paying from Mukono to Kampala, the fares were raised to sh1,500 and sh2,000 up to Mukono Town and Namawojolo, respectively.

On the Kampala-Nakawa, Kampala-Bweyogerere, Kampala-Bwaise, Kampala-Mutungo and the Entebe route, where the passengers were paying sh500 and sh800, the fares have been raised to sh800 and sh1,000.

To date no single reason has been given by the company to explain why the fares where raised, yet fuel prices are almost stabilising.

The changes come at the heels of a robbery, where the company lost sh200m that had been stacked at its main offices in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb.

Efforts to talk to the Pioneer Easy Bus officials about the changes in the fares were futile as no official was willing to talk to the press.