Traffic laws should be obeyed by all

This week, a UPDF truck being driven on the wrong side of the road in Mulago, Kampala, knocked dead a 37-year-old man.

Eye witnesses say Julius Mugarura was knocked as he attempted to cross the road, focusing on the side he expected traffic to come from since it is a one-way.

Mugarura’s widow says the army has promised to help with burial arrangements. But with the breadwinner gone, life will never be the same again for the young family of the deceased businessman.

But this is not the first time that security personnel are accused of breaking traffic laws.

In 2020, police summoned Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza for interrogation on charges of assaulting a female traffic police officer. Uganda’s ambassador to Burundi was said to have assaulted Sgt Esther Namaganda in Seeta Town when she stopped his vehicle for making a U-turn at a wrong point.

The same year, Maj Gen Paul Lokech slapped a senior traffic officer on duty and allegedly pulled out his firearm. He would later apologise to her when appointed Deputy Inspector General of Police later that year.

Early this year, a traffic officer was shot by a UPDF soldier who tried to block police from towing a military vehicle that was involved in an accident on Kira road, Kampala. Police Constable Robert Mukebezi’s leg was later amputated.

In May, a video emerged of a Military Police officer dragging a traffic officer by his collar. The traffic officer had allegedly asked the Military Police soldiers, who wanted the road cleared for them, to be patient.

Only a few weeks ago, traffic officers wrestled and disarmed a soldier who was said to have drawn a gun on a traffic officer who had reportedly asked him to remove his vehicle from the middle of Kibuye Roundabout. And the list of offences goes on and on.

The amended Traffic Act allows ambulances, President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice plus a bullion van from Central Bank right of way. Security vehicles also enjoy right of way in emergency situations, only with permission from police.

But this law has been abused by people driving cars with security and government number plates. In the process, they have caused accidents, disrupted traffic and, like in the case of Mugarura, led to the loss of life.

We call upon the minister of Works and Transport to ensure that traffic laws are obeyed by everyone, including by the so-called VIPs and security personnel.

Those who break traffic laws need to be held responsible, regardless of the position they hold in government. Otherwise, anarchy on the roads will only lead to the loss of time, property and lives.

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