Eng. Joel Kuteesa Mulwana said the industry sits on a one-hundred-acre expanse and with a production capacity of 11 buses a day, translating into 2,500 buses annually under the hand of close to 900 employees.
BY HENRY NSUBUGA AND MIKE MUSISI MUSOKE
Gains of NRM Governance: Kiira Motors Corporation Buses Get Off the Production Line
Uganda has come a long way since the early days of the NRM government, transforming from a country reliant on imports to a nation producing its own motor vehicles.
Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) in Jinja is leading the charge, manufacturing electric buses like the Kayoola, with a production capacity of 11 buses a day. The plant was commissioned by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on September 26, 2025.
The plant, spanning 100 acres, employs close to 900 workers and is set to increase production to 22 buses daily. Engineers are optimistic about the future, with plans to produce saloon electric cars and clean fuel vehicles.
Close to 40 years now, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) under the captainship of President Yoweri Museveni, has been at the helm of leadership of this nation.
To Ugandans who had come of age then, it is vividly recalled that the country could neither produce items like safety pins used for removing jiggers, although then jiggers were still a major health problem taunting many regions of the country, nor simple products like enamel ware cups, and Ugandans used to rely on neighbours especially Kenya for such products.
So many years down the road today, Uganda has taken gigantic strides in the industrial area, up to motor vehicle production and, according to Eng. Ivan John Kavuma, one of the top engineers at Kiira Motors Corporation at Jinja, what was a distant dream has matured into reality.
In an effort to track the country’s industrial development since the advent of the NRM, Kyaggwe TV brings you the genesis of the Kiira Motor Corporation and, guided by engineers at the plant including Eng. Kavuma, Eng. Joel Kuteesa Mulwana, and Eng. Latifah Sheebah Tusuubira, a woman of a rare caliber who is among the top brains behind KMC’s motor vehicles including the prestigious Kayoola electric bus, we were conducted around their plant.
Kayoola electric bus is one of the technological advancements that have secured Uganda a key position as one of the leading African countries that have ventured into the motor vehicle sector.
Before commencement of our tour, Eng. Kavuma broke the good news that the Kayoola Electric Bus, known for being a component of ecological conservation, recently made its maiden route to S. Africa where it was welcomed with placement of orders for more than 400 pieces.
We were conducted through the different production lines right from the smallest bolt to completion of an assembled bus known as ‘zero mirage’.
Eng. Joel Kuteesa Mulwana said the industry sits on a one-hundred-acre expanse and with a production capacity of 11 buses a day, translating into 2,500 buses annually under the hand of close to 900 employees.
Kavuma said installation of machinery enabling the company to get off the production line of 22 buses daily, meaning that annually, a total of 5,000 buses will be ready soon, under the workmanship of 2,000 workers.
In our round, we variously came across workers on their routine, with some assembling parts, others spraying the bus bodies, wiring, fixing tyres and engines, and other engagements.
Before being flagged off the production line to the market, the buses are taken to final testing to ensure perfection in all mechanical systems including ensuring the water proof content is perfect.
Eng. Latifah Sheebah Tusubira disclosed that plans are in the pipeline for production of saloon electric cars and those using clean fuel.
In the second part, we shall show you the consumer satisfaction quality of Kiira Motor Corporation buses, especially from Jinja where they have been on the road for a year now.
