High court (civil division) at Kampala has blocked the decision by the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) to re-distribute buses to different terminals in the capital’s central business district.
The plan to re-route the buses was issued on October 19 by the TLB secretary, Winstone Katushabe, in a communication to all bus terminal owners and managers.
However, the proprietor of Qualicel bus terminal, Frances Drake Lubega, rushed to court on November 22 and secured an interim order against the attorney general (AG).
“An interim order doth issue restraining the respondent (AG) from executing, implementing, enforcing or any way giving effect to the decision of TLB redistributing buses to bus terminals within the CBD of Kampala city made on October 16,” the court assistant registrar wrote. Before Katushabe wrote his letter, an October 17 TLB meeting, which was chaired by John Mutenda, decided that all eastern Uganda-bound buses that do not use gazetted private terminals would load and offload from Qualicel bus terminal.
Other buses destined to different parts of Uganda, including those going out of the country, would use terminals at nearby places such as Namayiba and Kisenyi.
“Any terminal that does not enforce statutory requirements shall not be allowed to operate. An operator shall not be allowed to operate in more than one terminal, except with permission of TLB,” Katushabe had ordered in his October 17 communication.
QUALICEL WRANGLES
In September, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) had ordered all buses to vacate Qualicel Bus Park in two months’ time following endless property wrangles between two businessmen running the park.
Lubega and business rival Charles Muhangi of Horizon Coaches Company have been battling in court over ownership of plot 43 to 47 on Nakivubo Road on which the building and the bus park, formerly known as Baganda Bus Park, are situated. Their main suit is yet resolved.
The authority said their decision was aimed at giving time to the warring rivals, who have run the bus park interchangeably over the years, to sort out their differences without hindering city revenue collections.
The wrangle stems back to 1993, after Muhangi and his colleagues paid Shs1 billion to the then Kampala City Council to manage the bus park.
slubwama@observer.ug