Police to weed out fake driving permits

Sep 30, 2014

THE police have received specialised equipment to test the authenticity of drivers’ permits and the newly launched bus drivers’ badges, a move that will curb the number of fake permits

By John Agaba

 

THE police have received specialised equipment to test the authenticity of drivers’ permits and the newly launched bus drivers’ badges, a move that will curb the number of fake permits with drivers and reduce the number of road traffic accidents in the country. 

 

On Tuesday, Police Superintendent Patrick Mugisha, received the 40 card verification gadgets, worth millions of shillings, from South African company, Face Technologies.

 

“The equipment is timely. We have a lot of accidents on our roads. And some are because our drivers don’t have the rightful permits. The gadgets will enable us test who has a valid permit and who does not,” Mugisha said.

 

Road traffic accidents remain a nightmare in Uganda. According to the 2013 Annual Crime and Traffic Report, reckless driving caused a total of 1,252 fatalities in 2013. 

 

At least 32 people died on Monday after a Uganda-bound passenger bus they were travelling in collided head-on with a trailer at Nimule Bridge in South Sudan. 

 

At the same function, organized by Transport Licensing Board (TLB), the deadline to acquire bus badges was postponed to October 8. 

 

The board had set September 30 as the deadline, after which it will be criminal for any bus driver to take passengers without a badge.

 

“We are postponing the deadline for a week because we don’t want any excuse. Some drivers are saying that their finger prints were not captured. But after a week, we shall be set. No bus driver without a badge will take passengers,” Winston Katushabe, TLB’s secretary, said. 

 

Information from the Board shows that a total of 1,118 drivers submitted in their bio data to Police for the badges. Of these, 834 were recommended to the board for the badges. 

 

A total of 533 badges have been printed, although only 220 have been picked since the issuance exercise officially started on August 14. 

 

“Some are reluctant to come pick the badges because we demand for an appointment letter from their employer before they can pick them,” Katushabe said. 

 

“But after a week, without the badge or the 9x12 inch photograph that they will hang inside the buses, they won’t be allowed to ferry passengers.” 

 

The move was first launched by transport minister Abraham Byandala on June 6 as a way of reducing road carnage in the country. 

 

The issuance of badges is provided for under section 45 of the Traffic and Road Safety Act.

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