No bicycles as demand shoots up

COVID-19 | TRANSPORT BAN

When President Yoweri Museveni announced the first 14-day lockdown period on March 18, there was a spike in demand for bicycles, according to several dealers on Market Street, Energy Centre, and Katwe in Kampala.

However, they could not access their stores, because of the prevailing lockdown, which was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Kampala City Traders Association spokesperson Issa Sekitto, most of their members who include bicycle dealers were taken unawares and had not made any contingency plans.

Sekitto, who is an avid cyclist and former national cycling champion said he too was caught flat-footed when the ban on vehicular public and private transport was announced.

 
"I tried to get my sports bicycle repaired, but could not access the spare parts needed. I am also stuck. I had hoped I would use my bicycle for going to the market to buy foodstuff," he said.

Meanwhile, Julius Ssali, a resident of Luteete in Wakiso said he was forced to retrieve a bicycle he bought some years ago to enable him go and supervise work in his gardens. "I had to bring it to Kasangati to get it fixed first," he said.

Another bicycle owner said somebody had offered him sh400,000 to buy his old bicycle, but he declined because it is what helps him carry stuff like matooke and charcoal to his home.

According to sources, a dealer who imported a container full of bicycles, but kept them away from the prying eyes of the authorities run out of stock within a couple of days.

 
Emmanuel Natuweta, a bicycle repairer and dealer in Wakiso's Kasangati township said previously the average cost of a bicycle was sh250,000, but one could get a second-hand bicycle at sh100,000.

"There are no bicycles for sale now. All the stores in Nakasero and Katwe are closed. People are instead bringing their old bicycles for repair, but we too have run out of spare parts. Some people have even resorted to using children's bicycles," he said.

Simon Kafeero Ssegawa, another bicycle repairer at Kyetume in Wakiso said the cost of bicycle spare parts had more than doubled in recent weeks because they are not available on the market.  "Can you imagine tyres that used to cost between sh15,000 and sh25,000 now go for up to sh50,000. You can't find pedals for less than sh10,000 anymore," he said.