On the morning of Thursday, December 17, a number of public transport companies decided to park their buses, leaving thousands of travellers stranded in Kigali for hours. The move followed grievances by the operators that they were operating at losses due to the new Covid-19 prevention measures announced by government this week ordering them to operate at 50 per cent of their capacity. According to operators, it does not make business sense, especially since the tariff remained unchanged. By around 11 AM when The New Times visited the Nyabugogo Bus Terminal, which is the hub for upcountry travel, bus companies had parked some of the buses only allowing few to operate. Hundreds of passengers were stranded after being told that the tickets were already sold out. “They told us that the buses that had to operate for the day were fully booked. They didn’t explain more to us,” said Jean Pierre Birikumana, a Nyanza-bound traveller. The same happened to Adrian Niyoyita, another traveller who intended to travel to Huye District, where he lives. “Getting a bus ticket is so hard. There are no buses around. I guess people will not travel today,” he said. Few buses were seen getting in and leaving the park, in sharp contrast to the normal bee-hive of activity at the terminal. During an interview, Theoneste Mwunguzi, the president of the Association of the Public Transporters confirmed that operators had parked some of their buses due to difficulties to meet operational costs in the wake of the new Covid-19 prevention guidelines which seriously cut their income. “Some of the companies have failed to even raise fuel for their vehicles, and so they decided to park some of them,” he said. However, by afternoon, Mwunguzi said the problem had been solved after a meeting between the operators and Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) which resolved that government will provide financial support to the bus companies to cushion them against losses while the guidelines last. Tony Kulamba, the Head of Transport Division at RURA, told The New Times that the regulator had agreed to meet the 50 per cent deficit created by the reduced passengers. “They (operators) are supposed to get compensation for that loss. It is being worked upon, and very shortly the money will be on our account, and we will start processing the subsidy,” he said. In the meantime, he said RURA has negotiated with fuel companies to keep providing fuel to the transporters as they wait for funds from government. “The most important part is the fuel, because they need fuel to sustain the operations. We discussed with fuel companies, and they are going to provide fuel for the operators as we process the payments. Each company has its own fuel provider, so it is about ensuring the provider that the transporters will pay,” he said. Mwunguzi told The New Times that RURA assured them that the support from government will be available for them around Wednesday next week.
