Police to impound tinted taxis
Jul 13, 2020
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said many taxis have now resorted to tinting their glasses to confuse police.
TAXIS | TINT |COVID19
Following the tight regulation on public transport, some taxi operators have come up with different tricks to flout the new directives.
President Yoweri Museveni on June 2nd, relaxed the Covid-19 lockdown allowing the operations of public transport and opening of shopping mall for business.
However, public transport returned with stringent measures where all taxis, mini buses and buses were allowed to carry half the normal capacity including drivers and conductors, while private cars are allowed to carry only four people including the driver.
Tinting taxi glasses
But police says through their intelligence , they learnt that many Passenger Service Vehicles (PSVs) especially taxis, are deliberately flouting the Presidential directive and carry more passengers than the recommended number.
Other directives include; all passengers to wear face masks and banning of touts on taxi stages.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said many taxis have now resorted to tinting their glasses to confuse police.
He said the police leadership has passed a new directive for traffic police officers to impound all tinted taxis.
"They have been using this trick to load more passengers so that the traffic officers do not see what is inside easily. That is how they have been eluding police," he said.
Onyango while addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Center in Kampala, noted that even the Traffic and Road Safety Act does not allow PSVs to have tinted glasses.
He said police is to continue working with the Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) to ensure that the presidential directives are followed.
Onyango stressed that the presidential directives are aimed at stopping the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and anyone found with tinted glasses shall be arrested.
Operating on illegals stages
He also warned taxis operating on illegal stages and without route charts.
"Many taxi operators now go to petrol stations and pretend as if they are fueling their vehicles yet they loading passengers. Others have no route charts. We are going to work with Kampala Capital City Authority enforcement team to impound them. They should go to the gazetted parks and get route charts," Onyango added.
