Lukwago blocked from engaging boda-boda leaders, police says it's for Ebola prevention

The meeting which was scheduled for Tuesday September 27, came to a halt when security personnel including police and the military were deployed to guard the entrance of the KCCA headquarters, and to restrict access to the Lord Mayor's office and the City hall which was the venue.

Commenting on the high security deployment, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said that police was concerned with the prevention of an outbreak of the Ebola virus at such a gathering in the centre of the city, in the absence of Ebola Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs).

“We thought that this would be an avenue for the spread of Ebola. We advise the Lord Mayor and team to get a better place, bigger space and put in place measures and guidelines to prevent the spread of Ebola,” said Onyango.

However, according to Lukwago, who has been against the move to register boda boda riders, the police deployment was intended to shame him.

Zahara Luyirika, the KCCA speaker, and some members of the Council accuse the Deputy Executive Director of KCCA, David Luyimbazi, for instigating the security deployment. According to Luyirika, Luyimbazi wrote to Lukwago asking him to transfer the meeting to another venue due to security concerns.

Lukwago says that he did not receive the letter and that he has not received any communication from Luyimbazi explaining why the meeting was blocked.

Luyirika said that the KCCA technical staff are allegedly sabotaging the Council's efforts to establish transparent policies for transport operations in the boda boda industry.

The boda boda bill, the Kampala Capital City (Public Transport Management) Ordinance 2022, details regulations for the infrastructure, management and supervision of public transport in Kampala to bring order in transport service provision.

Among the regulations, boda boda operators are required to have a license and to register with KCCA at a fee, in order to be allocated a gazetted stage.

However, the move is considered illegal by Lukwago, citing that there is no law to guide authorities on how to carry out the process.

He also wondered how government expects the City to establish laws that reflect the needs of the people without engaging them first.