Tension as developers take over part of Old Taxi Park

The reopening of the refurbished Old Taxi Park has been thrown into doubt after police gave a go-ahead to some developers to take over some plots located inside the facility.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is supposed to hand over the park to commuter taxi operators after closing it off for more than a year for refurbishment.

But a May 20 letter by the commandant of the Police Land Protection Unit, Mr Charles Mutungi, to the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander guided that the officers should abide by the court orders that gives vacant possession of several plots inside the taxi park to Abamwe Transporters Ltd and Kabale Distributors Ltd.

Abamwe Transporters Ltd owns plots 21-23 measuring 0.067 hectares on Burton Street while Kabale Distributors Ltd owns owns plots 27-29 measuring 0.55 hectares on Ben Kiwanuka Street.

Other companies claiming ownership of plots in the Old Taxi Park are Contractors & Transport Services Limited, D.K.S Uganda Limited, Key & Ham Investments Ltd, Aponye Uganda Limited, Lukyamuzi Investments Limited, City Oil (U) Limited, Shumuk Industries Limited and The Giant Eagle Mobile Phones & Accessories Ltd.

Eight of those companies own 0.501 hectares (1.24 acres) of the Old Taxi Park, which covers 3.53 acres. Before some of the plots were redeveloped, the Old Taxi Park measured 4.398 acres.

The companies got sub-leases from the then Kampala City Council in 2006. However, they were unable to take over the land after taxi operators refused to vacate the park, claiming ownership.

In the same year, the companies sued KCCA and later reached a consent judgment in January 2017. Court ruled that both KCCA and plaintiffs would develop the Old Taxi Park and the contested properties on the periphery in accordance with the designs approved by the city authority.

A December 10, 2020, memorandum of understanding between KCCA and the owners of the plots shows that the city authority agreed to grant vacant possession of the property to the owners soon after the renovation was done.

The developers were supposed to set up a multi-level parking and commercial facility under the supervision of the KCCA. But on November 4, 2019, Cabinet approved the government takeover of the plots upon compensating the developers. However, on April 30, 2020, the President directed that the developers be allowed to develop their respective properties “on condition that they do so in line with the development plan”.

KCCA was expected to open the Old Taxi Park to commuter taxi operations on Saturday but the developers protested and fenced off their plots, leading to clashes on Friday night.

Three workers of the developers were arrested and remanded to prison. Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said they arrested the suspects and handed them over to KCCA.

Mr David Nuwabine, the KCCA spokesperson, yesterday declined to comment, saying he needs to read and understand the documents related to the matter.

The spokesperson of the Kampala Operational Taxi Stages Association, Mr Moses Mawejje Birungi, said President Museveni ordered the Old Taxi Park to remain in the hands of the taxi operators.

“The President visited the park and said an investigation should be done about the claims and if the developers have genuine documents, they should be compensated because the park is only for the low income people like taxi operators,” Mr Mawejje said.

Trade relations

KCCA has on a number of times postponed the reopening of the renovated Old Taxi Park. Two weeks ago, KCCA issued a statement saying the park would be reopened on May 22 but last Friday, this was reversed and the city authority said the reopening had been postponed until further notice.