Members of Parliament have called for sustained access to petrol-powered motorcycle spare parts to prevent shortages that could adversely affect motorcycle owners and traders.

They made the observations during a plenary sitting of the lower chamber of parliament in which the Minister of Infrastructure, Jimmy Gasore, was responding to MPs’ queries on the government’s current decision to halt the registration of new petrol motorcycles for public transport in Kigali, which took effect in January.

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Gasore said that the decision, which took effect starting from January, was taken three months before the commencement of its implementation.

It is in line with the government’s plan to reduce emissions and adopt clean transport.

He stated that the first week had elapsed since the decision came into force, with no one affected by it thus far.

Addressing Members of Parliament, he assured that motorcycle taxi operators whose motorbikes were already registered before the directive was taken will continue operating as usual, and their licences (which are valid for two years), will be renewed.

"As such, the motorcycles in the City of Kigali – we estimate that those that are authorised are estimated at about 25,000 – are all in business. That is why no person woke up on January 1 and lacked a motorbike, no child woke up and lacked a motorbike to take them to school,” Gasore said.

Vincent Nyandwi, a motorcycle taxi operator who has been in the business for 14 years in Kigali, said that there was a need to prevent a hike in spare parts prices. He owns a petrol-powered motorbike that he said is important for providing for his family.

"We request the government to ensure that the spare parts do not get expensive as a result of the limited number of petrol motorcycles in the country,” he appealed, proposing that their shipment into the country should continue in a way that their costs do not go up.

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For MP Aline Ingabire, though the government decision is good in terms of reducing air polluting emissions, it may cause challenges on the spare parts market for the already licenced petrol motorbikes.

"I want to know whether the traders of those spare parts were thought about regarding the way they can import those pieces of equipment [spare parts], or whether if they had a huge stock, they may not incur losses because of a reduction in the demand which can lead to a drop in prices,” she said.

MP Damien Nyabyenda expressed concern that with the government decision, spare part importers may stop shipping them into the country, or may bring in a small amount.

"I would like to know which strategies were taken so that the importers of spare parts for replacing old ones in petrol motorbikes will not be discouraged from bringing them from abroad, or to prevent a situation where they can frequently increase prices [due to their shortage on the local market],” he said.

Responding to MPs’ concerns, Gasore said that spare part business will continue, pointing out that petrol motorcycles are still needed in the country, citing sector veterinarians, agronomists, and healthcare workers, who need them to travel to different parts of the country – where electric infrastructures are not available.

He said that petrol motorcycle traders will continue importing them into the country, as well as their spare parts, over a given number of years for purchase and use by individuals who want them for travel but not public transport in Kigali, or for public transport in provinces.

However, he pointed to the decreasing demand for these vehicles as the uptake of electric ones is on the rise – in response to the market dynamics reflecting e-mobility adoption.

Currently, he said, there are about 6,000 electric motorbikes, which he said is still a small number compared to around 100,000 moto-cycles available in the country.