Khalid Muyingo, the chairperson of Jinja taxi operators’ association who spoke on behalf of all drivers in the region says that the reason of the protest is tasking them to pay old fines which had been phased out in 2016.
The minister of state for transport, Hon. Aggrey Bagiire addressing chairpersons of taxi operators' associations from Busoga sub region at the Jinja district headquarters.
The Minister of State for Transport, Aggrey Bagiire has called
upon taxi drivers in Busoga sub-region to end their protest.
On Tuesday, the minister met the drivers following protests over the new
traffic guidelines that were issued last month.
Khalid Muyingo, the chairperson of Jinja taxi operators’
association who spoke on behalf of all drivers in the region says that the main
cause of the protest is tasking them to pay old fines which had been phased out
in 2016.
“We had a meeting with officials from the Directorate of traffic
in 2016, and following the systems’ irregularities which used to reflect fines
that had been cleared by the culprits, all chairmen voted to the phasing out of
old fines, ranging from the year 2015 and below, but am surprised by this new
system which warrants us to pay fines stretching from as far as 2012,” he says.
Muyingo further raised the concern of double penalty in cases of DMC vehicles
where a driver is required to pay a fine, but the taxi is also impounded at the
same time which requires another payment to release it.
He argues that penalties for DMCs should be given to vehicle owners who are
responsible for all car repairs and not to the taxi drivers.
Bagiire directed Busoga regional traffic officers to suspend
penalizing drivers both for the new and old offences until the end of the
president’s visit on Friday.
He further stresses that meetings to pardon drivers on the old
fines will be held with the responsible ministries of finance, and internal affairs
in a period of two weeks.
