Express penalties: Govt officers, drivers to pay fines with salaries
A traffic officer directs a motorist during an operation to nab defaulters of the Express Penalty Scheme on Kira road in Kampala last week. PHOTO | ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Asked when the scheme is going to be operationalised and what happens to the old system, Ms Susan Kataike, the Transport ministry spokesperson, said they expect it to be launched this week, but the day is not confirmed. She added that they will start implementing the new scheme with over speeding and abuse of traffic lights.
Police have said all government officials and drivers who abuse speed limits and traffic lights, save for those the Constitution gives a right of way, are going to have their traffic fines deducted from their salaries.
Speaking at the a traffic rules sensitisation and training workshop for Faras online boda boda riders group at the weekend, Mr Bruce Oinebye, the Traffic Commander for Kampala Metropolitan North, said the express penalty scheme is intended enforce road discipline and all traffic fines on government vehicles will be sent directly to government transport officers to ensure that fines are deducted from their salaries.
For other drivers of vehicles with illegal sirens, they have 72 hours to pay up the fines after three days, the fine will attract a 50 percent surcharge.
“Most government vehicles are under a transport officer. The more you refuse to stop at the traffic lights, the more you speed and the more tickets you get. Fortunately, these tickets will go to the transport officer directly. If you are issued a fine, you will receive an sms notification on your phone and an email containing the video showing the speed at which you were driving,” he said.
He added that under the new system, if the penalties are not paid within six months, the government will auction the vehicles. He told the boda boda riders that all the fines should be paid to the URA account, and no traffic officer is allowed to receive cash from motorists. On Saturday, Faras, a platform that allows individuals to book rides and car rides through their mobile app, held a sensitisation workshop for its riders to educate them about proper road use. Mr Mudhafar Hamad Kasaija, the general manager for Faras, said they have partnered with Uganda Police to start teaching boda boda riders how to behave on the road.
“We have a partnership with the police to improve boda boda transportation. We have been approached by NGOs which give us statistics of riders getting accidents that is why we are working with traffic police to reduce accidents. We want to professionalise them,” he said.
Asked when the scheme is going to be operationalised and what happens to the old system, Ms Susan Kataike, the Transport ministry spokesperson, said they expect it to be launched this week, but the day is not confirmed. She added that they will start implementing the new scheme with over speeding and abuse of traffic lights.
“In total, we have 36 offences, but in the new system, we have so far automated traffic lights and over speeding. The old system will continue working for all the offences. We have reduced the time for paying the fines from 28 days to 72 hours after which at it will attract a 50 percent sur charge,” she said.
Ms Kataike added that they introduced the system because the old one has been lenient to offenders.
