The Cabinet has approved a plan to revamp public transport firm Onatracom with a view of inviting private entities to operate it. The plan, which will lead to a private-public partnership after the firm is turned into a public limited company, is aimed at making Onatracom a profitable venture. This is a great move considering that the public transport is deep into debt and depends on the taxpayers’ money to keep afloat. The roadmap that was sanctioned by the Cabinet last week provides a win-win situation for the government. The government will get some profit and there will, hopefully, be no need to use public money to run the company. Onatracom, the public limited company, will also be duty bound to operate competitively to stay in business. Note that operating as a private company does not mean that Onatracom will abandon the service it was set up to carry out – providing an affordable means of transport to Rwandans, especially those from hard-to-reach areas. So, let’s support this initiative to make our public transport better and less costly on the taxpayer.However, before the government eventually gets a private person or company to operate Onatracom, those who caused financial loss to the public transporter should be prosecuted and made to refund the money if found culpable.
