Police issue new orders for bodas, bus operators

Police have issued new guidelines for boda bodas and bus operators.

According to the guidelines, bus drivers are required to have badges with their details on them while boda boda riders have been advised to get proper licences.

Addressing the media in Kampala yesterday, the Traffic police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Faridah Nampiima, said the directives take effect tomorrow.

ASP Nampiima urged owners of buses to submit the particulars of their drivers to the Ministry of Works and Transport so that they can get badges.

“This exercise started on January 6 and it will only last a week, thereafter, no bus driver will be allowed on the road without a badge,” she said.

The badges will consist of the driver’s name, driving licence number, the company they work for, among others.
ASP Nampiima said this will help traffic police officers trace the movement of buses and arrest drivers who cause accidents and then move to another company.

This is not the first time the badge system has been introduced. A few years back, the Ministry of Works and Transport introduced the badge system for taxi and bus drivers. The badges were displayed in the vehicles at all times.

The ministry later removed the system.

ASP Nampiima said: “Preliminary Traffic police investigations indicate that companies share route charts which is wrong. Every bus company must have an independent route chart for its buses.”

“Bus owners are reminded to operate their vehicles within the prescribed time on those route charts, no bus will be allowed on the road out of time,” she added.

In an interview with Monitor yesterday, Mr Solomon Nsiimire, the chairperson of Uganda Bus Owners Association, said the stringent measures will help deal away with fake drivers. 

“There are some people who access driving licences without thorough scrutiny. I call for more sensitisation of the public about road usage,” he said.

As for the motorcycles, ASP Nampiima said it has noted with concern that boda bodas ride on the road with vehicle class licences. 

“We have three classes of motorcycles which include class A which is for motorcycles with cubic capacity exceeding 125cc and power exceeding 11 kilowatts, class A1 which is for  motorcycles with cubic capacity not exceeding 125cc not exceeding 11 kilowatts and B1 class which is for motorised tricycles and quadracycles,” she said.

She directed traffic police officers to randomly check driving licences for three days which started yesterday and gave riders three days to renew their licences.

The law

The Traffic Road and Safety Act 1998 as amended is to consolidate and amend the law relating to road traffic; to provide for the National Road Safety Council and the Transport Licensing Board; to revise the penalties prescribed in relation to road traffic offences and for other purposes connected with road traffic and road safety. 

Accident statistics from January 1 to 8
• 340 road accidents were registered
• 59 crashes were fatal
• 175 were serious accidents
• 106 were minor accidents
• 324 were accident victims
• 79 people died
• 245 persons sustained injuries