Kayunga taxi park wrangles deepen

Under dispute. The management of Kayunga Taxi Park has been in a standoff over the past three years. photo by FRED MUZAALE

What you need to know:

Contention. The chairperson of the ousted managment refused to hand over office, claiming that it is illegal since the matter is still before court.

The controversy surrounding the management of Kayunga taxi park in Kayunga District has taken a new twist after the ousted chairperson of Ssezibwa Taxi Hire and Transport Cooperative Society Ltd (SETTCS), Mr Semu Kagimu, declined to hand over office.
This follows recent elections organised by Mr Moses Magumba, the senior cooperative officer, that were aimed at defusing the three-year impasse between members of SETTCS and the town council authorities.
Members of SETTCS, who had accused Mr Kagimu of mismanagement, elected an executive headed by Mr Mohammed Kawooya, to run the company for two years.
However, Mr Kagimu, whom the Kayunga deputy chief administrative officer, Mr Benson Otim, had given a seven-day ultimatum on November 22 to hand over office, vowed not to implement the CAO’s directive.
“What they did (the elections) was illegal because there are matters which are still in court. Secondly, the CAO has no powers over me as chairperson SETTCS. I am under the Ministry of Trade,” Mr Kagimu said at the weekend.
“Therefore, I will not hand over office to people who were elected illegally,” he added.
SETTCS offices have remained closed since the disagreements.
Mr Kagimu sued the town authorities and Bugerere Taxi Park Operators Cooperative Society Ltd, (BTPOCS), a rival company, for criminal trespass. The case is still pending before Mukono Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The town council awarded the tender to manage the taxi park to BUTOCS, a move SETTCS members opposed, saying it was illegal since they (SETTCS) own the land on which the taxi park sits.
However, the town council insisted Mr Kagimu steps down.
“It is our mandate as local government to offer oversight and technical guidance to the effective performances of these organisations. The registrar of cooperatives basing on the Cooperative Society’s Act Cap 112 and Cooperatives Societies Regulations of 1992 convened a special general meeting on November 19 and new committees were elected which included the executive board and supervisory committee,” the letter signed by Mr Otim and addressed to Mr Kagimu, reads in part.
The RDC, district chairperson and district internal security officer received copies of the letter.
Mr John Lukooto, the district police commander, acknowledged its receipt, but said they were waiting for an order from the CAO or any other relevant authority to forcefully evict Mr Kagimu’s group from office.
“The moment we receive an order, we shall implement it and get him (Kagimu) out of office,” Mr Lukooto said.
Mr Magid Nyanzi, the town mayor, pledged to work with the new SETTCS executive to ensure that transport business thrives in the area, adding that the wrangles had affected their local revenue collections.
SETTCS has evicted commuter taxis from the park on three occasions. Trouble started in 2016 when town authorities cancelled a tender allowing the company to manage the park over Shs9m arrears.

Rivals blame settcs
In May last year, the BTPOCS secretary, Mr James Balaza, accused SETTCS of fuelling the conflict by declining to take the Shs2m monthly fee which they wanted to pay them for using their land. “We can only relocate our taxis when the members of SETTCS, who put us here have told us to vacate,” Mr Balaza said.