United Bus Drivers Association issues formal industrial action notice; all buses to be parked from 12th October over costly driver badges
KAMPALA – If you are planning to travel upcountry next Monday, you may have nowhere to board. Uganda is staring at a total bus transport blackout after the United Bus Drivers Association (UBDA) issued a formal public notice announcing the temporary withdrawal of all bus driving services effective Monday, 12 October 2026.
In a one-page official notice referenced as UBDA/NOTICE/10/2026, dated 08th October 2026 and stamped with the association’s official seal “UNITED BUS DRIVERS ASSOCIATION – UBDA”, drivers say they will park every bus they operate until their cry over driver badges is heard.
The notice, addressed TO: THE GENERAL PUBLIC and copied to the Uganda Bus Owners Association (UBOA), Ministry of Works and Transport, and Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety – Uganda Police Force, was received on 08 Oct. 2026.
THE LAST STRAW: BADGE FEES
According to UBDA, the issue is not indiscipline or politics – it is survival.
In its section titled BACKGROUND AND CONCERN, the association says while it recognizes Government’s responsibility to regulate public transport and promote road safety, the current system for validity and renewal of driver badges, including mandatory refresher-training, has become financially crushing.
“UBDA has repeatedly raised the concern that the current arrangement places a significant financial burden on drivers whose salaries do not adequately support recurring annual costs,” the notice states.
Drivers, who already earn modest salaries, are required to pay annual fees for badge renewal and compulsory refresher courses. UBDA says the costs were set without consulting the very professionals who spend 18 hours a day on Uganda’s highways.
Their position is clear: road-safety training should be strengthened, but it must be “practical, affordable and designed in consultation with the professional drivers who operate Uganda’s roads every day.”
RESOLUTION: PARK THE BUSES
After what it calls extensive consultation among its members, UBDA resolved that enough is enough.
> “After consultation among the members, UBDA has resolved that, effective Monday, 12 October 2026, members of the Association will temporarily withdraw their driving services and park the buses they operate as a collective form of peaceful industrial action until the Association’s concerns receive meaningful engagement and resolution.”
The association stresses the action is peaceful, but firm. And by issuing the notice four days in advance, it says it is giving bus owners, Government authorities, passengers and the wider public time to prepare accordingly.
A NATION THAT MOVES BY BUS
The impact will be massive. Buses are the backbone of Uganda’s public transport – carrying traders from Owino, students reporting for school, patients heading to Mulago, and families travelling for the weekend. From Namayiba and Kisenyi to Gulu, Mbale, Mbarara, Fort Portal and Arua, the park will be empty.
If the Ministry of Works and Transport and UBOA do not engage UBDA before Monday, Uganda will wake up to parked buses and stranded passengers. The question now is not whether drivers have a valid concern. The question is: Will anyone listen before the engines go silent on Monday?-Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
