Transport paralysed on Kampala-Mbarara highway as Global Coaches suspend operations
What you need to know:
- The meeting had not ended by press time and it was not clear whether the Licensing Board had cleared the bus company to resume operations on Thursday or not.
- Efforts to get a comment from Licensing Board officials were futile since their known telephone numbers were not going through while other were not picking our calls.
Transport was on Wednesday paralysed on Kampala-Mbarara highway after Global Coaches Ltd suspended business.
The suspension followed an announcement by the Transport Licensing Board that all the company’s 80 drivers were supposed to report to the agency for the verification of their driving permits.
This came after a spate of accidents involving company buses.
On Tuesday, one of the company buses collided with a taxi in Mpigi District on Kampala-Masaka road, leaving at least five people dead.
“All our drivers were called for validation meeting in Kampala. Transport Licensing Board was scrutinising their driving permits one by one. I don’t know how long it will take, we don’t know if the exercise will end today,” Mr Bwire Nomuhangi, the spokesperson for the bus company said on Wednesday.
He said: “The validation exercise has been sparked by a fatal accident that happened on Tuesday. We have had some accidents in the past but were not as fatal as the latest one.”
Mr Nomuhangi said that when speeding became a concern to the passengers, the management had to install bells and put posters in the buses to warn drivers and for passengers to report bad driving.
“The posters have numbers to call in case the bus is speeding and the bells sound when one goes beyond the speed of 100 kilometres per hour. Speeding had reduced, the Tuesday accident could have been as a result of other errors since the company buses are in very good mechanical condition,” he said.
The company employs more than 200 people. An employee who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak for the company, said that the Company Director Mr Leo Beyagira and his top managers were also part of the meeting.
The meeting had not ended by press time and it was not clear whether the Licensing Board had cleared the bus company to resume operations on Thursday or not.
Efforts to get a comment from Licensing Board officials were futile since their known telephone numbers were not going through while other were not picking our calls.
Meanwhile, the suspension of the bus company operations has caused a hike in bus fares on the route.
Bus companies that are still operating now charge Shs30,000 from the usual Shs20,000 per passenger travelling to various routes in western Uganda.
