Faridah Nakabugo the National Unity Platform (NUP) councilor representing Lubaga Division Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) council has threatened to petition her party principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) on how fellow councilors handled the issue of evicting bodaboda out of Kampala.
In last week council meeting, Nakabugo badly disagreed with KCCA Speaker who also doubles as the newly elected Makindye West Member of Parliament Zahara Luyirika and Ivan Mubiru a councilor representing Busega at City Hall.
Both members of NUP supported the proposal of slapping bodaboda cyclists with a tax fee of Shs90,000 a year.
“I know people like Mubiru are supporting such taxes which squeeze our people because he lost the recent election, they are now revenging on the voters and placing this council in bad light,” Nakabugo said.
She explained that the Shs90,000 annual fee is too much for a bodaboda cyclist who pays other government taxes on fuel, stage fee and taxes on the machines which they buy when their motorcycles are taken to garages for repair.
However, Luyirika supported the proposal which was passed on grounds that the bodaboda business is one of the profitable. She explained that daily, a cyclist pays Shs10,000 to the owner of the bodaboda and remains with some money for his family.
“Bodaboda cyclists also want to drive on good roads, need excellent public service and the only way government can get money to fund all those needs is through taxes,” Luyirika said.
The development comes days after Kampala State Minister Joseph Kabuye Kyofatogabye confirmed that the ongoing plans of decreasing on the number of bodaboda cyclists in the city and also establish fresh regulations to help in administering the bodaboda industry in the city are in high gear.
The Minister said that all bodaboda cyclists have to be registered, they must have a registered bodaboda stage, wear reflector jackets and always be smart.
Efforts to regulate the bodaboda industry in the city have been frustrated by top government officials including those in the security but this time, minister Kabuye said that no one is going to stop the development at hand on bodabodas.
