A Bus loading passengers from Lamogi-Ber Bus Terminal which is supposed to be closed as per the council resolution. Photos by Simon Wokorach
By Simon Wokorach
Gulu: Financial records from Lamogi Ber (next to Buganda pub) and Makome bus terminals in Gulu City have contradicted claims of non-remittance of revenue by councilors.
On February 1, 2024, Gulu City passed a resolution after Morris Odong, the Councilor of Pece-Laroo presented a motion to halt the operation of bus terminals.
Odong claimed that, the terminals deserve to be closed because they are not remitting revenue to the City Council, pose a risk of road crashes because they are located near a highway, and create trade disorder leading to leakages in revenue collections.
James Toolit, the Deputy Town Clerk, also argued that the two places were never gazetted for bus operation.
“The contract committee didn’t award any contract to the terminals and we don’t have any legal binding with them. I don’t see why the resolution can’t be passed,” Toolit said.
Speaker Alima Joyce Renni then ruled that the two places be closed with immediate effect and that the buses be relocated to the main bus park.
Financial records contradict the Council
However, records from Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal, show that the operators have been cumulatively generating Shs55.3m to the City Council annually.
The money paid through automated digital revenue collection to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), includes Shs3.2m trading license at 275,000 shillings annually.
The gate collection stands at Shs3.2m per month, Pay As You Earn, whose remittance stands at Shs15m per annum, property, and ground rent tax at Shs2m.
The records further revealed that the payment systems were authorized by the Town Agents and include in the financial printouts as Samuel Oyet and Ben Otim Richard for Pece-Laroo.
At Makome Bus Terminal Services, the operators have been remitting an advance income tax to the tune of Shs1.3m to the Council every financial year, and the trading license is paid of 373,000 shillings.
The Council has also charged shs1.5m annually per bus, which accumulates to Shs15m for the 10 buses that leave for Kampala from the terminal, and Shs38m for gate collections.
The last payment vouchers which were authorized by Ojara Samuel Baker and Bosco Otema of Laroo-Pece, show money deposited to Stanbic Bank for a trading license.
From the records, the two had issued a payment voucher on June 6, 2023, and money to the tune of 375,875 shillings was deposited on June 13, 2023, at 2:00:59 PM to Stanbic Bank.
For the financial the year 2023/2024, the two bus terminals have cumulatively generated shs 109.9m to Gulu City Council but the Council authorities refute acknowledgement of the receipts.
Ministry grants operation permit
In a separate document that the GNNA has seen, the Ministry of Works and Transport issued an operation permit to Makome Bus Terminal Company.
In the document, the inspection of the place was done by the officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport together with the Gulu Municipal Council authorities on June 3, 2023.
The document which was issued on February 1, 2021, grants Makome power to use plot 32 located on Andrea Olal Road along the Gulu-Kampala highway for loading and off-loading of passengers.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transports Winstone Katushabe signed the document and copied it to the Director of Traffic and Road Safety, Uganda Police, and Gulu City Council.
“Permission is granted to Makome to use this area for loading and off-loading of passengers,” the document with reference number: TRP/79/O1 from the Ministry of Works reads in part.
Bus operators refute claims of noncompliance
Patrick Bongomin, the Manager Makome Terminal Services noted that the Company has fulfilled all the requirements for operation and has never defaulted on remitting revenue to the Council.
“The town agents are the ones that generate these payments. We haven’t defaulted payment, instead we are over-taxed. People complain about our fares, but that [high tax] is the genesis,” said Bongomin.
Stephen Omony, the Manager Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal similarly noted that the company is operating within the legal frameworks to offer services to the people.
“We have been paying revenue to the Council and we shall continue to. And because we aren’t ready to move, we shall continue to serve the public in their best interests,” Omony maintained.
Division mayors divided
The division mayors for both Pece-Laroo and Bardege-Layibi are however divided on the resolution for the eviction of the transporters.
Patrick Oola Lumumba, The mayor of Bardege-Layibi Division, noted that the money generated from Lamogi Ber Bus Terminal annually stands at shs38m.
According to Oola, half of the money collected from the transporters is channeled to the City Council. He acknowledged that the council resolution was passed without consulting the lower councils.
“If the place has to be closed just because of accidents then what about other places in the city where accidents occur? Must we close the city because Gulu has been having accidents?” Lumumba asked.
But the mayor of Pece-Laroo Division Geoffrey Otim, maintained that the bus operators have been defaulting revenue payments to the Council.
Otim revealed that the Division Council has been losing shs420m annually from the transport sector in both Gulu Main Bus Park and Makome bus terminal services.
According to Otim, the Division Council is only getting shs5m from the taxi operators in the main bus park, leaving a huge gap in revenue collection from the transport sector.
“For four years now, we couldn’t collect over shs1.6b from buses, but this money could help to maintain the general cleanliness of the city,” Otim said.
Resolution likely to cost Council
The Councilor representing Laroo-Pece- South Constituency Andrew Otto Ogwetta expressed fear that the resolution was hurriedly adopted which may have legal implications for the Council.
“There isn’t any substantial evidence to conclude that the operators haven’t been paying tax. We needed to have gone deeper to find out before the resolution,” Ogwetta noted.
Oscar Kizza, a lawyer with Godena Associates in Kampala noted that the award of contract is guided by the Public Procurement and Regulation Act which set conditions for the parties involved to undertake.
He argues that, for the Council to grant operation license to the Bus Terminal would mean, like any other entity or individual, they should have gone through bidding and evaluation by the Contract Committee.
“Where the law of procurement isn’t followed, the Council can’t lose but also, they can’t just wake up to evict these companies if this law was honored in due process, it will bring loss to the Council. If they followed all the processes and where breach of contract, such licenses can be lawfully” He argued.
He however noted that, if the affected parties are not satisfied with the decision by the Council, then they can seek for legal redress in the commercial court where such cases are majorly handled from.
