Out going members of the 10th parliament on the Committees of Science and Technology and ICT have called upon government to continue supporting the Kiira Motors project- to install the production line and have the company’s Vehicles Plant at the Jinja Industrial and Business Park operational later this year.
While on their last over sight visit at the Kiira Vehicles Plant site before the 10th parliament is dissolved next week , the MPS said government had made the right decision to invest in the Kiira Motors project which will see Uganda join the world’s car production countries and create unprecedented economic opportunities for Ugandans along the automotive industry value chain .
The parliamentarians were led by Hon. Eng Lillian Nakate and Hon Waira Majegere Kyewalabye the Deputy Chairperson ICT and S &T, respectively .
“We salute the team at Kiira motors for their resilience to realize mission vehicles made in Uganda which will lead to import substitution , localization of the automotive industry supply chain and create jobs,” out going MP for Busiro South Peter Semantimba , stated adding that Kiira Motors should be treated as a “legacy national project.”
Eng Nakate who was visiting the KVP for the first time hailed the UPDF engineering bridge working under the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) headed by amiable Gen. James Mugira for constructing what she said will be a “world class” vehicle plant- the largest in the East and Central African region . “ With this facility Uganda has demonstrated that it has what it takes to taken on large -scale projects of national strategic importance . We should all be proud of the men and women in uniform for a good job done,” She said while calling upon the management of Kiira Motors to use the vehicle plant to deliver competitive products and make Uganda proud.
Hon Kyewalabye , said that government should make the plant operational by funding the production line before the close of the year as per the road map which was passed by cabinet in 2018.
“What is not in doubt is that Kiira Motors has demonstrated that it has the capabilities and technical know how to produce vehicles that can match any other on the world market . We must now have vehicles produced locally on a commercial scale and government should buy vehicles from Kiira Motors,” he said.
The MPs urged KMC the national automotive industry flagship to continue with the development of its green mobility technologies to produce fully electric vehicles so that Uganda and Africa are not left behind in the global race to replace combustion engine powered vehicles by EVs by the close of this decade .
The Kiira Motors Executive Chairman and the CEO, Prof Standy Stevens Tickodri -Togboa and Mr. Paul Isaac Musasizi told the MPs that the Company working with Partners plans produce and deploy 1,030 buses by end of 2021, 50 of which will be Electric. The initiative is aimed at modernizing public transport in the urban centers in Uganda and beyond, while building the indigenous motor vehicle industry through technology transfer and supply chain localization.
