Transporters want full time operations at border posts

Travellers cross into Uganda at Kagitumba one stop border post in Mirama. The facility has eased transport between Uganda and Rwanda. PHOTO BY ERIC DOMINIC BUKENYA

What you need to know:

  • Reason. The move is expected to boost cargo volumes and increase movement of cross-border traders.

Kampala. A section of transport sector players have blamed part-time operation at the Uganda-Rwanda border for the low traffic at the customs point.
Despite being upgraded to a one-stop border post, Mirama Hills has not attracted much traffic in terms of cargo volumes as well as increase in movement of cross-border traders.
During the handover of Ntungamo-Mirama Hills road last week, there were concerns that if the traffic does not pick up, the $13m (Shs47b) one-stop border facility will be underutilised if not wasted.
With the $22m (Shs80b) Ntungamo-Mirama Hills road now open for traffic, it is expected that the northern corridor project, meant to quicken clearance of cargo from Mombasa port to Kigali, will substantially increase traffic at the two border points.
But according to sector players, that will depend on whether customs officials from the two neighbouring countries operate 24 hours instead of the half-day schedule they are currently enforcing.
Importantly, the Mirama Hills road route offers a shorter and less difficult route to Rwanda than the Katuna/Gatuna border post.
Both projects - the one border post and the Ntungamo-Mirama Hills road were funded by the government of Uganda and the Department for International Development through TradeMark East Africa.
Before being paved, the 37Km section of the Northern Corridor Road Network was a constraint to the operationalisation of a one stop border post at Mirama Hills.
Speaking during the handover of the road to Uganda National Road Authority, Trade Mark East Africa in Uganda country director Moses Sabiiti said in addition to quicker clearance at the modern border post, the road is expected to decrease the time for goods to move between Kampala and Kigali, and increase the volume of traffic using the route.
“That is not in dispute, but for it to happen, revenue authorities from both countries must be prepared to work 24 hours a day and throughout the week,” United Bus Drivers Association executive secretary Ibrahim Kayondo said in an interview.
The association spokesperson, Mr Gabriel Ngabirano, revealed that they have been forced to wait for hours on several occasions before being cleared because they either made it early at the border or arrived late.
And to save them from that agony as well as entice them into using the Mirama Hills one border post, he proposed that both Uganda and Rwanda customs official immediately begin 24/7 operation.
The policy analyst at Uganda Manufacturers Association, Mr Godfrey Ssali, said for the private sector to regularly use the road and the Mirama Hills one-stop border post, they will need to be convinced that they will encounter no more non-tariff barriers on the road and at the border facility.
In his response, the Uganda Revenue Authority station head at Mirama/Kagitumba one-stop border post, Mr Ronald Kwezi Mugisa, said: “We are ready to operate 24 hours. That is not our problem.”
He added: “The reason why we open shop at 7am and close by 8pm is because there is no traffic to clear. It makes no sense for us to have staff overnight and there is nothing to clear. But as I said with increased traffic we will increase our hour of operation, including working full time - 24/7.”