Kiira Motors produced only 5 electric cars in 2024/25By Prisca WanyenyaThe Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has raised concerns over the dismal performance of Kiira Motors Corporation, upon learning that in 2024/25, the electric car manufacturer only managed to produce 5 electric cars despite the plant having a capacity to produce 5,000 vehicles annually.Leading the questioning was Muwada Nkunyingi (Kyadondo East) during the consideration of the December 2025 Auditor General’s report for Kiira Motors Corporation, on 6th November 2026.He cited the findings in the Auditor General that observed that Kiira vehicle plant is reported to be at 98% complete with installed production capacity of approximately 5,000 vehicles per year. However, a review of the approved work plan and the quota for performance, that’s the last quarter, that only 30 vehicles had been planned for production that year. 30 out of a possibility of 5,000.Muwada who doubles as Chairperson COSASE noted, “The Auditor is putting your performance at less than 1%. Now, the challenge is a year of 12 months, you only assemble 5 vehicles to completion. What is the challenge? What is the challenge? Because you have the capacity according to the Auditor General, but you cannot assemble to full scale. But again, convince the committee that in 12 months, you could only complete 5 vehicles. Meaning, you need how many years to complete, because if in a year you complete 5, so meaning, you need hundreds of years to produce enough vehicles. So, what is the challenge?”The Chief Executive Officer of Kiira Motors Corporation, Isaac Paul Musasizi, admitted that by June 2025, the plant was at 98% but the process of setting up a plant after installing the machinery is lengthy characterised by training the manpower to be able to then commence serious production or commission.He explained, “So, the plan for the 30 units that year was actually for training the line. We call it training the line, our line is 143 stations. So, at each station there is a specific set of tasks that are required to be performed in order for you to build a vehicle and during the course of this year, one of the aspects that held us back was certainly the timeliness of the resources.”Musasizi attributed the dismal performance to the late release of resources explaining that the Corporation has a work plan for a year that requires mobilisation of the supply chain through front loading resources and make commitment to the suppliers and when the money from Government comes late, it affects production of the vehicles.He explained, “So, when you receive funds, say in quarter three, it is at that point that you are going to finalise engagements with suppliers. And this is an aspect we are continuing to engage with the stakeholders to see that really funds required for us to perform for the financial year are availed and front loaded in order for us to also engage the ecosystem to plan and be able to accomplish our tasks.”Kiira Motors Corporation informed the Committee that the plant currently has an installed capacity of 2,500 buses a year, which is dependent on the demand the plant is serviced, the manpower available to do the production, the machinery, and also the products to produce.“The installed capacity is scalable to 10,000. So, when we add some more resources, again, this would be in terms of mainly machinery and manpower, at Jinja we can scale to a maximum of 10,000. Now what we want to note is that we are not yet producing at maximum capacity. We will continuously build capacity to get there. The plant in Jinja was commissioned last year in September. And we are working and we will continue working also with Parliament to see how we not only realise working capital, but we have the resources to also build the manpower,” Musasizi remarked.Meanwhile, Julius Nakiyi (Budadiri East) sought clarification on the US$2 million prepayment made to foreign suppliers for parts used in vehicle production, prompting him to seek clarification on how much local content is used in the production of the electric vehicles.He noted, “Our expectation was that you are producing these things yourselves, why government is putting too much money is because we are promoting other value chain advantages by using locally available goods, but if you are importing most of the things you are using in production, then it may defeat that purpose. What is the percentage contribution of foreign or imported items to this production?”The same sentiments were raised by Hakim Kizza Sawula (Bukoto South) who asked Kiira Motors Corporation to indicate the percentage of local content used in the production of Uganda’s electric cars noting, “There is a tendency of many companies here in Uganda to say that they are manufacturing when they are assembling. So, my question was, do you manufacture or assemble and what is the difference between the two?”Musasizi informed the Committee that currently, the value created locally, is 21%, including parts of materials that you source locally, the engineering content that goes into delivering the product that is done by Ugandan engineers and the production content itself which is how the computation of the localisation comes to.He explained, “All our paints are sourced from local suppliers, the undercoats, the primers, all of these are manufactured locally. Some of the steel, not all of it is also sourced locally. All the welding gas is sourced locally. Well, there are some parts we source locally, though the suppliers do not make them here, like the adhesives, the glues, the welding rods, well, not welding rods, the welding wires, because we use MIG. Those ones we are sourcing locally, but the process will continue developing as we increase volume in order for us to reach our target of up to 65% local sourcing, which is the plan to provide opportunities for the Ugandans.”The post 5 Cars in a Year: MPs Grill Kiira Motors Over Plant Built to Produce 5,000 Vehicles Annually appeared first on Business Focus.