President Museveni Woos Visiting Eswatini Officials To Tap Into Production, Marketing Kiira Motors Electric Buses
President Museveni, on May 3, received a special message from the King of Eswatini, His Majesty, Mswati III. The message was delivered by Eswatini Prince Lindani Nkosi during a sideline meeting of the African Parliamentarians with the President at State House-Entebbe, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Prince Nkosi was accompanied to the meeting by Mr Quillino Bamwine, the Consular General of the Kingdom of Eswatini in Kampala and Hon. Sarah Opendi, the chair of the 2nd African Inter-Parliamentary Conference which ended on May 3, in Kampala.
The Prince delivered a special message from the King, but sources say the meeting also discussed the readiness of the South African nation to work with Uganda in the production and marketing of electric buses, being produced by government-owned Kiira Motors Corporation.
The Prince had earlier visited the Kingdom’s Consular Offices at Serena, where he signed the official book.
Earlier, the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Eswatini to the African Union had written to the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating that the Prime Minister of Eswatini H.E Russel Mmiso Dlamini had taken note of the speech by President Museveni during the NAM and G77+China Summits in Kampala that Uganda is manufacturing electric buses.
“Under the statement, the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini wishes to express its interest in pursuing how the two governments can benefit from this project,” the ambassador wrote on February 21, 2024.
Accordingly, the government of Eswatini wants to create a hub for marketing the buses to the SADC region and believes the country has an advantage being near the Maputo harbour which makes it easy for the product to be shipped.
The Uganda-owned Kiira Motors Corporation manufactures the “Kayoola EVS”, a fully electric, low-floor city bus designed for urban mass transportation. According to information on the corporation website, the bus has a seating capacity of up to 90 passengers and a range of up to 300 kilometres at full charge, which makes it capable of handling daily duty cycles.
Accordingly, the Kayoola EVS coach is available in both electric and diesel variations. The diesel coach is powered by a 6-cylinder turbocharged inter-cooled Cummins engine, which provides over 375 horsepower and can achieve a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour.
During the meeting with Prince Nkosi at the weekend, President Museveni and Consular General Bamwine also discussed the taxes imposed on manufacturers of alcoholic beverages, which have increased the prices killed the business and led to local investors shifting their businesses to Tanzania and Kenya, where the tax regime is favourable.
According to Cabinet sources, President Museveni said he was surprised by such a tax policy and directed during Monday’s Cabinet meeting that Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja should pursue the matter with Mr Bamwine, the Eswatini Consular General in Kampala, to look for a solution.
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