Cabinet approves mandatory and periodic inspection of vehicles halted by Parliament in 2017
In 2017, Parliament halted the mandatory and periodic inspection of motor vehicles saying the exercise should be conducted by government agencies, in particular, the Uganda Police.
This was after the government announced a mandatory and periodic inspection of vehicles in July 2016 at least once a year.
Now following the matter, Cabinet has approved the controversial mandatory and periodic motor vehicle inspection services once again, noting that it’s a source of employment opportunities and revenue for the government.
Communications and media relations manager of Uganda Media Centre, Dennis Katungi yesterday announced that the inspection services will improve road safety, control air pollution, create jobs, curb theft of motor vehicles and enhance tax collection to the government.
“The benefits include enhanced revenue collections through ensuring that every vehicle is compliant to all statutory requirements (Road safety, tax laws and transfer of ownership),” the Cabinet resolution read by Katungi stated.
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Susan Kataike, spokesperson Ministry of Works and Transport said the ministry will invite the contracted company to sign the new contract, then after, they will declare the number of fees to be charged for the inspection service.
“It is like we are starting afresh. After signing the contract, we shall be able to tell the deals about the fees, when the inspection will start and other details,” Kataike said.
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A Swiss company Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) is the company contracted by the government to carry out the inspection of vehicles exercise throughout the country.
Several inspection points have been formed throughout the country by SGS to perform the exercise and each point can inspect over 200 motor vehicles daily.
Before Parliament halted the inspection exercise in 2017, SGS charges were as follows; motorcycles 54,752 Uganda shillings, buses 59,000 shillings, taxi 100,000, trucks 147,500 shillings.
Owners of the motorists were also required to pay half the first fee for another inspection in case the vehicle failed the test.
The unfair and inequitable fees received attention from Parliament and vehicle operators who objected it, with the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructures recommending a revision of the fees.
While vehicle operators particularly tax operators wondered why their charges are higher than those charged for buses.
In the plan, taxis were meant to pay 100,000 shillings every six months well as buses were subjected to 59,000 shillings annually, which according to tax operators was unfair.
Reacting to Cabinet decision Rashid Ssekandi, the chairman of Kampala Operational Taxi Stages Association (KOTSA) announced that they will consider rejecting the process once again if at all the issues raised in the petition before parliament are not addressed in the new contract.
In his remarks, Ssekandi says all vehicles should be subjected to uniform inspection fees.
“We told them that the inspection must look into the condition of the vehicles we buy in Uganda. We use reconditioned cars dumped in developing countries yet the machine uses very high standards. This means we will fail the tests.”
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