Relaunch, sustain drive against impunity on roads

In September last year, police announced the launch of a joint security operation aimed at arresting a sharp rise in the number of case of impunity on the roads.

The operation, which involved the Traffic Police, the Field Force Unit (FFU) and the Military Police, targeted users of both private and government registered vehicles who were using illegal sirens and flashlights to gain a right of way even when they were not entitled to it. The operation also targeted those who were involved in other acts that were putting other road users in danger.

The operation resulted in the forceful removal of sirens and unauthorised flashlights from private and government registered vehicles. It also saw the arrest of a number of motorists who were travelling in government-registered vehicles, many of whom were issued with express penalty tickets.

The highlight was perhaps the arrest of a State House driver who attempted to make a U-turn at the gate of Aga Khan Primary School and tried to intimidate police officers who tried to stop and apprehend him.

We should point out the operation precipitated a return of a measure of sanity to the roads.

All Ugandan motorists were for once equal before the traffic laws, but that was until the police’s attention shifted to other issues, especially the boda boda riders who are being arrested by their hundreds in everyday operations.

Just in case the guys at police headquarters are yet to notice, the impunity is back on the roads and with perhaps more venom than before.

Those riding in government registered vehicles are busy running those whose taxes facilitated the acquisition of those luxury rides off the roads.

The illegal sirens and flashlights have also returned in their numbers. The situation suggests that the motor vehicle repair workshops that install those illegal gadgets were never dealt a hand hard enough to teach them not to make unauthorised installations.

We have no qualms with the police trying to rein in the boda boda operators, but one wonders why the campaign to bring them to order has run longer and has been more sustained than the one that had been aimed to return sanity to the roads.

Police needs to relaunch the campaign against impunity on the roads as a matter of urgency and those riding in cars bought, thanks to the taxpayer, must be reminded that they are not above the law. Above all, such campaigns need to be sustained.