This year, the government introduced electric vehicles and motorcycles as a solution to the high transport fares and to reduce carbon emissions from fuels.
However, today on the Fatboy show, presenters James Onen and Olive Najjuma contended the viability of electric cars, given that the country is still struggling with power shortages.
The Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Monica Musenero, revealed that the government is driving the country towards E- mobility and is the reason for its investment in electric transport.
According to the presenters, the idea is great but the country is already grappling with high electricity prices and power shortages.
“If we can not supply households with enough electricity, why add vehicles?” James Onen aka Fatboy wondered.
He referred to the frequent load shedding in Kampala that sometimes takes days before restoration.
“Imagine if we managed to get 10 percent of the vehicles in Kampala to be electric, they would end up stranded because of power issues,” Fatboy added.
Moreso, his co-host Olive Najjuma wondered whether the government introduced such innovations to excite the public.
“I see the government introducing some things that seem interesting and maybe a step in the right direction. I however wonder if it is something they tell us to excite us because let us not forget that most Ugandans may not be able or be in a position to afford these electric vehicles,” Olive reasoned.
“URA makes a lot of money from used cars imported from Japan. Is the government trying to tell us that they are willing to lose that to electric vehicles? She asked.
She cited the President’s speech on increased fuel prices in which he mentioned that the government is planning to move to electric cars, which was not solving the actual problem but exciting people.
However, they wondered whether they were not being afraid of change. “ I am sure that is what people used to say when Henry Ford introduced the motorized vehicles. The horse cart maker would have said, ‘you have to put in fuel to places where they sell petroleum. If it is a horse-drawn carriage, the horse can eat grass anywhere,” said Fatboy.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.