NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO BE OUT BY MARCH

The Ministry of Works and Transport is the mother ministry to anything transport related in Uganda. In our Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) project that advocates for review of policies, it is very vital for us to engage such officials. We held a roundtable meeting with some of the key decision makers on 15^th February 2022 at the Ministry of Works and Transport premises.

In reaction to the presentation by our Programs Manager- Mr. Stephen Mbarushimana, Mr. James Katunguka- A Senior Road Safety Officer at the Ministry of works and Transport pointed out that Passenger Service Vans (PSV) and commercial drivers in Uganda are not supposed to have any alcohol in their system according to the regulation. The Act has the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) limit but the regulation means that PSV and commercial drivers should be 0.00mg/l. Therefore, as we advocate for 0.05mg/l as opposed to the present 0.08mg/l BAC limit, we need to be mindful of that.  

About Novice drivers, he mentioned how this is hard to determine who a Novice is in Uganda since some one can have a permit without being on the road for long hence becoming a novice and that can’t easily be determined by enforcers.

According to Ms. Judith Karara, a Senior Road Safety Officer, while URRENO is seemingly concentrating on Alcohol alone, it is important to note that the Ministry of Works and Transport is making regulations that cut across all drugs that can compromise an individual’s sense of judgement while using the road.

Mr. Katushabe Winstone, the Commissioner Traffic Safety and Regulation pointed out concerns such as boda boda riders/motorcyclists riding long distances on the highways, taxis moving beyond 60kms, delays in the development of infrastructure, approval of buildings plans by KCCA and change at implementation by property owners hence deeming KCCA as orchestrators of organised chaos, among others.

He however mentioned how there is a solution to most of these concerns through the National Action Plan that should be out by the first week of March 2022.

Mr. Katushabe further applauded the team work spirit that has been exhibited by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the recent past. “CSOs should continue being organised and putting up a unified front so that they can push government to do their work. They are supposed to be pressure groups and ask for accountability on what was promised in order to have impact on society.”