By Our Reporters
In a three page letter, Mustafa Mayambala who leads UTRADA (which unites over 100,000 drivers in Uganda) has reported to the President how politicians in Kampala and some State House officials are on the verge of stealing Shs500m which he recently promised to taxi drivers, conductors and owners’ SACCOs in the Kampala CBD. On 5th October, Museveni camped out in the Old Taxi Park (downtown Kampala) where he met what he believed where stakeholders in the taxi industry. In his interaction with them, Museveni (having listened to their problems) offered them Shs500m to boost their SACCOs based at the respective stages in the Old Taxi Park. But in his three page dossier that has since reached Museveni already, Mayambala says all the guys introduced to him as SACCO members were fictitious persons who have nothing to do with the taxi industry. Mayambala says on that day, leaders of the rival taxi operators’ association (friendly to Kampala Minister Beti Kamya) heavily invested in Kanyamas who spent the whole day beating up and brutalizing genuine taxi drivers, conductors and owners to ensure they don’t attend Museveni’s public meeting at the park. Mayambala says the violence sponsors’ fear was that if these genuine operators weren’t chased away, they would protest once ghost SACCOs were read out to the President. Mayambala says the thumping was too severe some of the UTRADA members had their limbs broken and had to be admitted in hospitals. Gratefully, the cases were reported to police and on his dossier, Mayambala attaches case reference numbers and names of operators who were thumped and the respective police facilities where the cases were reported. He implores Museveni to send his counter intelligence teams to corroborate this whistle blower information before the Shs500m is released to the sham groups he was duped to commission. Mayambala claims that Museveni didn’t get much applause at the event not because he lacks support in the taxi industry but largely because organizers stuffed the venue with people who had no history of the things he (M7) was talking about including directing the halting of oppressive taxes to which taxi operators had been subjected for years. Mayambala says, because they are happy with his interventions including directing apex level elections in the taxi industry, the genuine taxi operators are very happy with Museveni and deserve an opportunity for another visit to the taxi park where they will show him their happiness without the hired Kanyamas being in the picture to brutalize them. Mayambala claims that the taxi industry has over 100,000 operators loyal to his UTRADA and it’s these that he wants Museveni to meet to confirm the high support he enjoys in the taxi industry. He promises to mobilize taxi operators from across the country to descend on Kampala and show Museveni some love-and all they are demanding for is a day when the big man will be available to rally out with them in Kampala. Mayambala says those who duped the president to commission and take photos with fake taxi SACCOs are sabotuers working for the opposition which he says has always benefited from a fractured taxi industry.
KAMYA SPEAKS OUT;
But during an appearance on CBS radio, Beti Kamya said she had been hearing of UTRADA efforts to report to the President accusing her of failing to do a good job on the day the big man rallied out in the taxi park. But she remains unmoved and she says: “We aren’t going to waste time arguing with people like Mustafa Mayambala because we are busy with more important things to do for this country and besides, what is the problem assuming some of those weren’t genuine taxi operators? Are they not Ugandans? Let them get the President’s money to do development work because it’s not only taxi operators like Mayambala that merit being assisted by the President.” Another official of State House, some of whose employees UTRADA accuses of conniving to dupe the President, separately told this news website that Mayambala is a proxy continuing to use UTRADA to demonize people who had disagreements with his master and mentor Abdul Kitata regarding the management and pacification of the taxi industry in Kampala.
