President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday commissioned Metu-ZhongTong bus-assembling plant based at Namanve in Wakiso District.
The facility that was started up by Mr. Metu Katabazi, its Chairman and proprietor, started in 2017 with the selling of spare parts of heavy vehicles and later it ventured into the assembling of 67-seater buses in June 2018.
The plant later went into a technological partnership with a Chinese bus manufacturing company, ZhongTong, and currently employs 55 people.
President Museveni who was impressed with the start-up factory, urged Africans to always believe in themselves adding that it was possible for them to also start making cars just like he had seen in the assembling plant.
“Mr Katabazi and his daughter have helped demystify the idea that making cars is very hard. Africans must not despise themselves,” he remarked.
He pledged to support the factory adding that he would be giving 100 acres of land for the factory to expand.
The Proprietor of the plant, Mr. Metu Katabazi, says the peace and stability brought by President Museveni is what has enabled him to start the plant.
He said that buses, which cost Shs400 million each, would hit the road as early as next week.
He hoped that the business will expand to regional and international markets.
He observed that the plant is able to assemble 20 buses monthly and 50 units by 2020.