Jinja Taxi Drivers Kick Off Strike Over Escalating Fuel Prices
Photo Courtesy Of Daily Monitor
By Uganda Online Media
Kampala: Taxi drivers in Jinja city have kicked off a sit-down strike protesting against the escalating fuel prices in the country.
The strike has left hundreds of passengers stranded prompting youths to demonstrate,
Youths burnt tyres, lit fires and blocked roads, making transport difficult for a number of hours. A number of people were left with no options but to walk to their destinations or use bodabodas, which were also said to be risky and expensive.
Police and other security officers found a hard time clearing the roads that had been blocked by tyres and fires.
Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga told reporters at the weekly security briefing at police headquarters in Naguru that the situation was under control and calm was returning to Jinja and Busoga.
Security around the capital Kampala remained beefed up, with Enanga confirming that some local leaders had been arrested for allegedly threatening shopkeepers not to open their businesses, and for mobilizing locals in Kawempe to protest high commodity prices and the rising cost of living.
The current fuel prices which are between Shs.6000 to Shs 6600 a litre have led to an increase in public transport fares across the country.
The protests happened a few days after Museveni addressed the nation on his government’s position on the rising commodity prices and high cost of living. Museveni did not offer any ‘tangible’s solution for these economic challenges, insisting they were from external pressures such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
President Museveni said government interventions by cutting taxes or subsidies would mislead the people to continue to consume without economizing the commodities thus plugging the country into more trouble.
