By John Odyek
The director, traffic and road safety, Lawrence Nuwabiine, was left irate after finding his vehicle clamped on a street in Kampala on Wednesday.
Staff of Multiplex Ltd, the company that manages street parking services in Kampala, did the clamping, citing unsettled parking fees.
Nuwabiine had parked his private car outside the office of the Uganda Media Centre, where he had gone to attend a press briefing.
Upon returning, he found his car clamped. “What is this? Why have they done this?” he wondered.
A note had been left tucked into the vehicle’s windscreen wiper. Scribbled in red ink, the message directed the owner of the car to call a one Isaac, whose mobile numbers were included.
According to Multiplex officials, Niwabiine had parking dues amounting to sh66,400. He said he was a not a regular user of the vehicle and wondered how the bill had accumulated.
The traffic boss then phoned the Multiplex offices, and the promise on the other end of the line was that company staff would be sent to remove the clamp.
Niwabiine proposed that Multiplex Ltd should allow up to three parking slots in front of public offices and buildings to enable the public access the buildings.
“Imagine a restaurant in a building without parking space! How will they raise money if the public cannot access their premises? They should degazette some spaces in front of public offices and buildings,” he said.
Meanwhile, the traffic boss had to exercise patience, and was offered a seat at a nearby kiosk as he waited for the Multiplex officials to arrive and free his vehicle.
