Special hire drivers want leverage to compete with online taxis

Special Hire Operators and Drivers Association of Uganda say financial support from the President’s Office towards their SACCO would boost their efforts to invest in new vehicles, which will improve services and match the online taxis. The special hire drivers led by Najib Magara, the deputy chairperson of the association, met the Speaker of Parliament Rebeca Kadaga on Monday, 28 January 2018 and called on her to arrange an appointment with President Yoweri Museveni. Magara said that they were losing out on business owing to the fact that their cars are old, something that had prompted their clientele to opt for new taxi companies like Uber, Taxify and Friendship among others. “If we can get support to buy new cars or even get cars on loan from the bonds, I am sure we shall be able to fend for our families. Our children no longer go to school because we can no longer make ends meet,” Magara said. He noted that with a loan to buy 20 cars, each at a cost of shs25 million, the drivers would be in a position to recover sh1.2 million monthly till the loan is cleared. Kadaga committed to follow up on the request by the drivers to enable them match the competition they face. “I will surely follow this up with the President so that he arranges a meeting with you,” she said. The taxi business was for a long time a monopoly of special hire drivers until the advent of online hailing companies. Uber and Taxify have diversified into the boda boda industry too putting pressure on the traditional taxis commonly known among the masses as “specials”.