Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Felix Kaweesi addresses cyclists in Kampala yesterday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Kampala- 
Police yesterday blocked Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago from addressing a boda boda gathering about the introduction of registration of commercial riders in the city.
Earlier in the week, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) announced new measures of regulating boda boda operations through registration.
Police said Mr Lukwago was not invited to the meeting, adding that his intentions were unclear. 
“This is not a political meeting,” Mr James Ruhweza, the Central Police Station commander, told Mr Lukwago before forcing him to lead his convoy away from the scene.
“We love our mayor, but his uninvited attendance could be interpreted as political prompting the police to halt our assembly,” Mr Ephraim Mugisha, a cyclist from Natete, a Kampala suburb, said.
The riders, who were also holding placards with inscriptions such as “we need dialogue and not dictatorship, my job is valuable,” gathered at Nakivubo Blue Primary School demanding KCCA to engage them in the registration process.
Mr Lukwago, however, said the police should stop acting like people who do not understand the law.
“My visit to the site was to listen to the riders and note their complaints and suggestions. But I could not understand why police behaved in that manner,” he said.
Mr Felix Kaweesi, the Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, assured the cyclists that they are working with relevant authority to address their grievances.
The city authority said all motorcycles operating within the city would start registration on September 9.
“We shall not be deterred in anyway, this is a process to streamline traffic flow in the city, a duty bond to KCCA as the city authority,” Ms Jennifer Musisi, the KCCA executive director, said recently at a news conference.
The authority estimates that there are more than 250,000 motorcycles operating within Kampala.
fmukisa@ug.nationmedia.com