ROAD SAFETY: Government to issue new driving permits for bus, taxi drivers and other public transporters effective July.
The government of Uganda through the Ministry of Transport and Roads has finalized plans to amend the Traffic and Road Safety Act 2020, to include provisions establishing special courts where all drivers who cause accidents due to negligence will be prosecuted.
The bill will include new permits for all bus and taxi drivers of other public transport.
Under this arrangement, the Minister of works and transport Gen Katumba Wamala and officials from the Ministry of Transport met with Public Prosecutor Jane Francis Abodo and the Principal Judge to analyze the functioning and venues of the special courts.
Among other provisions of the Act, the government will re-train all public transport drivers in the country, who will be issued new Professional Driving Permits and will be effective from 1July 2023
These new arrangements were presented by Kashabe Winstone Commissioner in the Ministry of Roads in charge of the country’s traffic at a meeting where the security agencies launched a company that will re-train all drivers.
Kashabe also said that public transport drivers will no longer be allowed on the roads without new professional driving permits.
A report by the traffic police revealed that on the first seven days of the new year 2023, a total of 340 accidents happened on Ugandan roads. “In the period between January 1 and 8, 2023, there were 340 accidents, of which 79 people were killed and 245 injured,” ASP Faridah Nampiima revealed recently.
According to traffic police, the accidents were mostly caused by careless driving including drivers who drift from one lane to the other, driving while speaking on mobile phones and overtaking in dangerous spots.
