The Uganda Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety has issued a warning against VIPs abusing the road system by acting as though there is an emergency when there isn’t.

The Public Relations Officer of the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety, SP Micheal Kananura, while speaking to journalists at the police headquarters in Naguru on Monday, June 17, 2024, retaliated that there is a joint operation by traffic and military police due to the increasing misuse of roads by VIPs who have escorted pickups driven by army and police drivers who disregard traffic regulations.

“They move as if they are on emergence, even when they are not. The emergence here is defined under Section 123(5b) of the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Act 2020 as a serious, unexpected, and dangerous situation requiring immediate action. So someone who is going to the office, leaving office, going to a function, or for a burial—that one can never be regarded as an emergency, and many others, of course,“ Kananura said.

He added, “The authorized emergency vehicles, as per Section 123(5a) of the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Act 2020, mean vehicles for the purposes of police, fire brigades, and ambulances, the military motor vehicles of the armed forces, and such other motor vehicles, trailers, or engineering plants as may be designated by the minister in consultation with the chief licensing officer by statutory order.“

Kananura further noted that Regulations 5, Sub-Regulation 2 of the Traffic and Road Safety Rules of the Road, Regulations 2004, and then Statutory Instrument Number 35 of 2004 provide that a driver of a car of the Vice President, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, or a police vehicle or other emergency vehicle is allowed in case of emergency to deviate from the regulations.

“Traffic and Road Safety, Rules of the Road, Regulations 2004, provides for the driver to give way to the state motorcade,” he said.

Kananura warned that drivers of authorized emergency vehicles should drive with due care and are not in any way exempted from the consequences of their disregard for the safety of persons or property as prescribed in Section 123(3) of the Traffic and Road Safety Act 1998.

He called upon the public to share such offenders on social media platforms.

“In most cases, you people are in areas where these vehicles are passing and where there are no law enforcers, traffic officers, or military police. So you can also reach out to us on our toll-free number to report such cases,” Kananura said.