Travel chaos as police arrest ticket defaulters

There was travel chaos across the country as police on the first day of a planned two month-long crackdown seized vehicles and arrested motorists found to have defaulted on paying fines under the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS). 

The money to be recovered from the defaulters grosses Shs8.5b, officials said. 

Many drivers and passengers caught on the wrong side of the law were stopped midway their journeys as police impounded the vehicles.

READ: Common traffic offences and their penalties

Our reporters witnessed uniformed traffic officers plucking licence places off vehicles whose drivers had EPS penalty arrears, ranging from as low as Shs50,000 to more than Shs1m, depending on traffic offence committed and period of defaulting alongside applicable interests.

Many motorists with pending fines avoided driving out, according to officers in the exercise.

Traffic police officers erected road checks on all major routes, and ordered arrested drivers to first pay the fines in the bank and provide proof before getting back their cars.

However, there were altercations between traffic officers and some motorists who claimed that they had committed no traffic offence warranting a penalty, and argued that entries against them were either falsified or a cover-up for different offenders.

Where stalemates occurred, such as on Bunga Road in Kampala, Daily Monitor saw an angry driver speed away.

By close of business yesterday, police did not have gross figures on vehicles seized, errant drivers arrested or amounts they paid in penalties on day one of the crackdown.

Those targeted included drivers of public service passenger vehicles, private and government or institutional vehicles.  Our on-the-spot checks showed that police had seized far fewer vehicles than the 229,938 tickets issued to drivers over the past six months for a range of traffic offences, including reckless driving, jumping lights, driving on wrong lanes and on carriageway separators, driving without permit or with expired permit and speaking on the phone while driving.

The arrears in traffic penalties issued between January and July, which officers seek to recover on behalf of the government grosses Shs8.5b. 

Already, Shs10b had been collected earlier in voluntary payments or from trapped motorists.

In Kampala Metropolitan Police area, the traffic officers yesterday targeted taxis.

Mr Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, said the operation would  continue until  the unpaid fines have been collected.

Since this financial year started, the Finance ministry has been putting the police on pressure to recover unpaid fines. 

The operation has been intensified in the wake of confessions by Finance minister Matia Kasaija that the government has no money and that the economy, which he more than a year ago whistled, had taken off to a cruise like a plane, was now “limping”.

Our reporters found officers in Kigezi, Elgon, Mbarara and Savannah regions fully engaged in the operations. 

However, the exercise was muted in Gulu and Soroti districts. A police source said they would launch theirs today.

At Jinja Road in Kampala, Mr Moses Katende, a taxi driver, one of the motorists whose vehicle was impounded, said he cleared the EPS payment in 2016, but the traffic system showed him that he had unpaid ticket.

“The officers have plucked off my number plate over a penalty [that] I cleared in 2016. I have evidence from the bank, which proves that I cleared,” Mr Katende said.

In Kigezi region, police impounded 50 vehicles and all motorists paid the fines, Ms Evas Ninsiima, the regional traffic officer, said.

“The operation is going on well because the defaulters are complying and I hope that by the end of the exercise, they would have paid,” she said.

In Bukedi South Region,  more than 20 vehicles were impounded.

“We have so far impounded 20 vehicles, but more will be impounded because the operation is ongoing,” Mr Musa Mugwe, the Bukedi south police spokesman, said earlier yesterday. 

Many errant motorists, he however said, had eluded arrest by operating in rural areas.

 “We are likely to extend the operation to the rural areas,” he said.

 The Tororo District chairperson, Mr John Okeya, attributed the mass evasion of penalty payment to high fines imposed on especially boda bodas. 

“Recently, I intervened in a situation where a boda boda was issued a penalty of Shs100,000. In this situation, do you think the officer was considerate? I was forced to summon the district police commander and the penalty was cancelled and the rider was issued a new friendly penalty,” he said.

The Elgon region police spokesperson, Mr Rogers Taitika, said: “The operation is on, but I have no information regarding the cars so far impounded. I’m not yet updated.” 

In western Uganda, Rwizi Region police spokesperson Samson Kasasira said they had by midday impounded up to 100 vehicles.

He added: “People are responding positively and those that are not, their cars are the ones remaining at police, though a good number of them who cleared. We would release their vehicles, but we are still in the field.”

Greater Bushenyi police spokesperson Marcial Tumusiime said majority of the 30 drivers whose vehicles they seized paid up promptly.  

“At the moment, we are remaining with only nine vehicles whose number plates we removed since we did not have where to park them,” Mr Tumusiime  said.

Situation in Katonga region

Mr Grace Kiberu, the traffic spokesperson in Katonga region, said although a nationwide operation was conducted on Monday, on-spot checks will continue throughout the week to arrest defaulters. “Most motorists appear to have left their vehicles at home today [Monday] and our team is going to conduct on-spot checks in the coming days,” he said. Police had given advance notice of the operation during a press conference, enabling motorists at fault to prepare in time. Katonga region controls the usually busy Kampala-Masaka highway which, according to police statistics, has an average daily traffic of about 30,000 vehicles. 

The highway is the main gateway to DR Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. It carries both light and long-haul trans-border trucks.

Reported by Robert Muhereza, Joseph Omollo, Karim Muyobo, Dorothy Nagitta, Felix Ainebyoona, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa, Brian Kesiime, Milton Bandiho & Fred Wambede