KCCA wants boda-bodas out of Kampala city center

Motorcycle taxis are very popular in Kampala Kitaka said a code of conduct has also been developed for the taxis and is being harmonized.

“Draft regulations and a draft Cabinet memo is ongoing. An action plan for boda-bodas will be in place by September,” Kitaka told said on Monday.

He said in order to decongest the central business district, boda-bodas will have to removed from the city center. “Once the action plan is in place for the boda-bodas to vacate, we shall enforce it,” he said.

Kitaka was presenting KCCA’s sector performance report at a meeting in Kampala before development partners, contractors, and works ministers, ministry of works officials and heads of road authority and road fund.

He said the authority has plans also to eliminate taxis and buses in the city center.

He said the agency is working with the Police and stages for taxis have already been gazetted in the outskirts of the city. “This will lead to less stopping on roads,” he said.

Kitaka informed the audience that other traffic management measures are to remove the existing up country bus parks which park at Arua, Baganda and Nebbi parks from the central business district, stopping the access of heavy goods vehicles during day and upgrading roads that divert traffic from the heavily congested corridors.

He also outlined other measures of traffic decongestion as lane widening at Entebbe Road and Shoprite traffic signal junctions, emergency maintenance in the five divisions and upgrading of traffic signal equipment at Wandegeya and Portbell/Nakawa junctions.

He said the authority has prepared a plan to revamp the city roads and it is based on the detailed city roads improvement carried by both works ministry and the authority in 2011.

He noted that the dilapidated road network is due to limited numbers of road equipment, unavailability of spare parts for the equipment, non performing contractors and delays in procurement system.

He also blamed tele-communications companies for digging up roads when installing their cables.