Govt launches electric buses in Kampala with plans to extend across 14 cities

Ministers Monica Musenero (L) and Katumba Wamala (R) flagging off an electric bus for Kampala at Kololo on Saturday. PHOTO | MIKE SEBALU

The government will on Thursday officially introduce electric buses across different routes within Kampala City, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced on Saturday as it launched the e-mobility transport system.

State Minister for Science and Technology, Ms Monica Musenero, said the buses will be trailing specific routes, as the government studies the market.

“All Ugandans, you know now that globally there is a challenge of fuel, so to alleviate this crisis, we had to introduce these electric buses,” she said.

As it moves to curb crisis related to fuel shortage and enhance a clean environment, Minister for Works and Transport, Gen Katumba Wamala, said the government has plans to roll out e-mobility services to 14 cities with about 1,500 electric buses across the country.

“As already said by June 2030, the plan is to roll out this service across the nation, making all 14 cities with about 1500 buses,” Gen Katumba said.

The electric buses started plying specific routes as the government studied the market.

The Kampala e-mobility program commenced with 8 buses, and the deployment of other routes will be demand-driven.

Late last year, Uganda's state-owned Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) secured a landmark deal to supply 450 electric buses to a South African company.

The deal, valued at approximately $150 million, followed a successful 13,000+ km demonstration, "From the Pearl to the Cape," where a Kayoola E-Coach was driven from Kampala to Cape Town.

The 450 Kayoola E-Coaches, with potential to increase to 820 units, will bring the total value to around $250 million.

“So apart from even making our travel easy, the employment opportunities, all these are going to be run by human beings. This transition is an engine for wealth. We will create jobs, job opportunities at every level,” gen Katumba explained.

The Minister of State for Kampala, Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, is optimistic that the introduction of electric buses on Kampala routes will solve one of the biggest problems of Kampala, which is public transport.

“The president started this dream of science, even we who were non-scientists started quarrelling, but because of consistency, insistence and being committed and focused to the cause, we are here to solve one of the biggest problems of Kampala.” He said

The Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development (Energy), Mr Opolot Okasai, said the introduction of the e-mobility program is a fulfilment of the energy efficiency and conservation law that emphasises conservative use of energy.

According to the e- mobility outlook report 2025, the government has so far made a total cumulative investment of over 658billion shillings ($175m) between 2018 and 2025 across 14 companies, among others.