Private Transporters Ready for Partnership to Decongest Kampala
Mr. Moses Mawejje, the Spokesperson of the Uganda Taxi Operators Federation speaking during a project dissemination workshop at Makerere Business School.
Government says it is planning to introduce an electric metro rail system, while encouraging operators to adopt electric motorcycles and buses for both commercial and personal use. Private transport operators have expressed willings to work with the Government and development partners to decongest Kampala city and reduce pollution.
To tackle congestion, the Government says it is planning an electric metro rail syatem, while encouraging operators to adopt electric motorcycles and buses for both commercial and personal use. Moses Mawejje, the spokesperson of the Uganda Taxi Operators Federation (UTOF), which claims over 100,000 members nationwide, welcomed the shift towards electric transport.
The project team was led by Dr. Ismael Nkambwe, the Principal Investigator at Makerere University Business School (MUBS), alongside Ass. Prof. Saadat Kimuli Nakyejwe, Dr. Eng. Ismail K. Kiiza (Makerere CEDAT) and graduate researcher Nashua Nabaggala.
According to Nkambwe, Kampala lacks a unified urban transport policy to guide sustainable solutions. Prof. Kimuli explained that their research used a mixed-method design, combining commuter surveys with stakeholder interviews and quantitive modelling. Over 350 commuters and operators from the districts of Kampala, Mukono, Mpigi, and Luwero participated in the survey, while over 25 stakeholders including Safeboda, UTOF, KCCA, NEMA, and Uganda Railways Corpoartion, shared perspectives on readiness and integration.
Key findings showed that informal sector actors, such as taxi and bodaboda associations, view the metro as a complementary rather then competing service. They expressed willingness to integrate into a multi-modal system if engaged and supported.
Representing the Uganda Investment Authority, Julius Serunjogi, manager of the central region industrial parks, revealed that Namanve alone receives over 1,000 trucks daily sesrving 400 industries. He admitted that industrial parks contribute significantly to congestion but supported the metro proposal as a long-term solution.
The study conclude that Kampala’s gridlock costs commuters productive hours daily, increases emmissions, and undermines Uganda’s climate goals making sustainable electrifies transport systems urgent and necessary.
