Africa-Press – Uganda. The news of President Museveni signing into law the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Bill 2023, is a move in the right direction. The new law increases the fine from Shs200,000 to Shs2m for motorists driving beyond the prescribed speed limit. It is accordingly intended to restore sanity and reduce road carnage.
It should be noted that in the 2022 Annual Crime Report about 336,722 traffic offences were registered, of which 6,123 cases were against motorists driving beyond the prescribed speed limit. The police also reported 20,394 road crashes in 2022, of which 3,901 were fatal, 10,776 were serious and 5,717 were minor.
Overall, the report indicated a 17 percent increase in the number of crashes reported in 2022 from 17,443 crashes in 2021 to 20,394 crashes in 2022.
While this new law is good, the challenge comes with the implementation. We now need to see the effectiveness of this law in the total discipline both from road users and law enforcers – the traffic police. Much as increasing police presence on roads to enforce this traffic law rigorously is needed, their integrity matters too. In the past, we have witnessed some traffic officers whose integrity has been found wanting because their desire for bribes from traffic offenders is stronger than their constitutional duties.
As we implement this law, we need to strengthen our systems to explicitly prohibit corruption and punish offenders too. We need to ensure transparency and accountability within the police force. As has been the case, let us use technology such as cameras to monitor and penalise offenders without fear or favour. We know that some of the bribes exchanged between traffic offenders and traffic police happens while other passengers are watching. We should implement mechanisms to protect whistle-blowers who report such corruption.
As part of internal processes, the government should ensure that traffic police officers are adequately compensated and receive fair benefits. Low salaries and inadequate benefits sometimes lead to officers seeking bribes.
Once this has been addressed, provide regular ethics training to all traffic police officers to reinforce the importance of integrity, professionalism, and honesty in their duties. Also, conduct regular and surprise integrity tests to identify officers who may engage in such corrupt practices.
Importantly, government officials, other law enforcement officers and public figures should lead by example and follow traffic rules themselves.
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