The Ministry of Works and Transport has issued road safety directives to all road users as the festive season approaches.
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, while addressing the media on December 6, 2024, at Uganda Media Centre, said that all buses whose journeys are beyond 300 km shall not have return journeys within 24 hours, adding that only buses with valid route charts and valid PSV licenses shall be allowed to operate.
“No school bus shall be allowed, or any private vehicle that is not authorised by the Ministry, to carry passengers,” Katumba said.
He further added that all bus drivers should possess valid Driving Licences and Driver Badges at all times while driving. Additionally, he said a photo of the driver shall be displayed in the bus.
Gen. Katumba also notified the public that the traffic police will step up enforcement across the country through the festive season with a focus on keeping the road safe.
In the lead-up to the festive season, he also appealed to road users to avoid conducting themselves in a manner that exposes and undermines the rights of other road users.
Winstone Katushabe, Commissioner of Transport Regulation at the Ministry of Works, stated that pedestrians are among the vulnerable group of road users, greatly affected by road crashes. He said that measures to mitigate this are in place.
“With the operationalization of the Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) Policy, current road designs within the city now have provisions for NMT as a requirement! An NMT corridor along Luwum Street and Namirembe Road has been dedicated to pedestrians,” Katushabe said.
According to Gen. Katumba, from December 23, 2023, to January 1st, 2024, close to 60 lives were lost.
The reported figures for this year, from January 2024 to the end of September 2024, show that 3,790 lives were lost and more than 12,430 got serious injuries as a result of road traffic crashes or accidents.
