FDC Questions Unfulfilled Kampala Rail and Bus Promises

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party in Uganda has publicly challenged the government's persistent failure to establish a viable mass public transport system in the Greater Kampala area, particularly in light of recent crackdowns on taxis.

Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, the FDC's deputy president, argued that the ongoing crackdown on minibuses, which dominate the city's transport, underscores the government's broader inability to deliver alternative solutions. He urged the government to account for numerous transport plans approved over the years, including proposals for city buses and a light rail system that have yet to materialize.

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The taxi crackdown exposes a wider failure by government to deliver promised alternatives to the minibuses that dominate public transport in Kampala and surrounding areas.

Fungaroo recalled that the government endorsed a plan in 2006 to introduce 400 large buses in Kampala, but this initiative did not become a sustainable solution. He also referenced the National Transport Master Plan for Greater Kampala (2008-2023), which aimed to reorganize public transport and phase out minibuses in favor of higher-capacity systems. This plan expired in 2023 without achieving its objectives.

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Mr. Byamukama should tell us what happened to this plan.

The FDC also questioned the fate of private sector involvement, citing Pioneer Easy Bus's pilot program in 2007 and its subsequent rollout in 2012. Despite plans to expand the fleet, this initiative also faltered. Other private efforts, like Awakula Enume buses, similarly failed to provide a lasting solution.

Perhaps most critically, the FDC highlighted the repeated promise of a light rail mass transit system for Greater Kampala, which has appeared in the ruling National Resistance Movement's manifestos since 2016. Despite promises in the 2016-2021, 2021-2026, and the upcoming 2026-2031 manifestos, no construction has commenced, leading Fungaroo to describe the situation as "the same promise, repeated across three manifesto cycles, still unbuilt."

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The same promise, repeated across three manifesto cycles, still unbuilt.