Rashid Ssekindi the chairperson of the Uganda Tax Operators Federation (UTOF) has revealed to this investigative website how he received several phone calls from top government officials including the Works and Transport minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala and Brig Gen Christopher Ddamulira the commandant of the feared Crime Intelligence directing him to clean his house and make sure that all internal physical fights among tax drivers and operators don’t resurrect.
He explained that government officials are scared that the ongoing divisions among leaders of tax operators will create a situation which will result into bloodshed as it was witnessed before.
He noted that he was advised that if he does not have the capacity to normalise the situation, he must accept defeat and resign so that another person can be elected to steer leadership of the tax operators in the country.
As a result of the frequent phone calls, Ssekindi took disciplinary action against leaders who are mobilizing tax operators to resist and force his administration out of office insisting that they are holding them illegally after breaching the 2021 Memorandum of Understanding they signed to establish a single umbrella to govern them.
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Ssekindi confirmed the suspension of Sadat Kalyango Ssemwanje the secretary for youth and sports and also the chairperson of Kawempe Division taxi drivers association from office on the allegation of indiscipline and trying to stage a coup against the legally elected leadership through inciting tax operators.
Ssekindi admitted that its true that the Memorandum of Understanding they signed in 2021 which brought together the six associations to work under one federation gave his leadership only two years as interim leaders and their main work was to organise for elections as a way of organizing taxi operations countrywide.
“Covid 19 disrupted our plans because we spent a lot of time in lockdown. Now we are just recovering so we need more time to execute the assignments given to us as interim leaders. We have done a lot and our members should accept the five years extended to our term in office as an appreciation, if not that fights among tax operators will resurrect in the city,” Ssekindi said.
However, Kalyango claims that Ssekindi is using his sister Aisha Ssekindi, the water and environment junior minister to shield his fraud and legality of staying in the office for a long time adding that during the signing of the MOU, their choice was Mustafa Mayambala as the interim chairperson because they feared that Ssekindi would decline to vacate office.
“I remember that he used his sister, the minister, to compromise Gen Katumba Wamala and threaten us that if we don’t accept him as our leader, bloodshed will continue in the taxi business but now enough is enough now,” Kalyango said.
Kalyango further denied allegation that he is working on the influence of Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago and National Unity Platform (NUP) principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) who want to use him to threaten President Museveni’s political comeback in Kampala city.
Sources claim that Kalyango is facilitated by the opposition to create divisionism among tax operators after realising that Museveni and his party are using Ssekindi and his deputy Mayambala a former opposition supporter to fight the ongoing formation of youth groups which are going to be used to provide security and protect the opposition victories come 2026 in and around Kampala.
Recently, Bobi Wine directed all party leaders around the country to form youth groups (Egaali) which will help them to secure their victory.
He explained that the same method was used in Kawempe by elections and they succeeded in helping their party candidate Erias Nalukoola Luyimbazi to protect his win from NRM’s Faridah Nambi.
Other sources especially those in security circles said that Lukwago is very scared that Kampala controversial businessman Hamis Kiggundu is likely to use his ghetto goons to fight him during the coming political campaigns as he fights to retain the office he has occupied since 2011.
