By Mulengera Reporter
Officials from the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation have responded to concerns on the manufacture and assembly of the latest Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) buses after some people claimed the vehicles were simply imported from China and branded in Uganda to make it look like they had been made in the country.
Months after KMC unveiled ‘Kayoola EVS,’ its latest prototype in May; some started questioning the capacity of Ugandans to manufacture a bus, dismissing the ‘innovation’ as just another import from China.
These claims prompted Parliament to summon Science Ministry officials to appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Friday to respond to the allegations that they imported the electric vehicles (which are powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the vehicle) and branded them at their Nakasongola plant before unveiling them.
Ministry Permanent Secretary denied the allegations, explaining that one of the buses was assembled by Ugandan engineers in China while the second bus was assembled in the country by the same group of engineers. According to Obong, the engineers have been beneficiaries of technology development and transfer partnership with China.
However, the committee chairperson and Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi asked Obong to make it clear whether the buses are merely being assembled in Uganda or manufactured as is the expectation.
He insisted that the buses “were actually made by Ugandans” who “started the work from scratch up to finish.”
The Undersecretary in the ministry Emmanuel Fred Muganga argued before the committee that the buses are manufactured by Uganda since the design is a Ugandan innovation by Kiira Motors. He insisted that the crucial stage of any motor vehicle manufacturing is the design which is unique to Uganda. He stated that the Kayoola was specifically designed for Ugandan cities by Ugandan engineers.
Muganga noted that even though most of the parts are imported, the moulding of the bus body is done in the KMC plant in Nakasongola. But he acknowledged that the front part of the bus body is moulded from China.
Amudat Woman MP Mary Nauwat was full of praise for KMC. She told MPs that she had been pleased with the development and training of Ugandan engineers when she visited China as a member of the Science and Technology committee to tour the bus technology project and partnership with China.
She noted that the six engineers who had been selected for training in China are now passing on their knowledge to other trainees at Nakasongola.
Obong invited the committee to visit KMC to learn more about the project right from its inception at Makerere University.
According to the Kiira motors website, the Kayoola EVS is a Fully Electric Low Floor Bus specifically designed for Urban Mass Transportation with a sitting capacity of up to 90 passengers. At full charge, the Kayoola EVS has a range of up to 300 kilometres making it capable of handling the daily duty cycle.
Additional Reporting: URN
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