ASP Faridah Nampiima
The Uganda police force will get 15 per cent of the total amount of money collected in traffic penalties.
The increment from the current five per cent will be contained in a statutory instrument expected to be issued by the Ministry of Finance, before the end of this year.
The decision is an outcome of discussions between the police leadership, the Finance Ministry and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to have at least a 10 per cent increment of the money that reverts to the force after it has been collected in road fines.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga says that they are hopeful the finance minister will soon issue the new arrangement which will be a big top-up of the police budget.
“Right now the ministry of finance is coming up with new developments where there is a new tracking arrangement. In the new arrangement, 15 per cent of the total collection will be reverted to the police. It is an arrangement of the government which is still at the cabinet level,” Enanga said.
The traffic police records for 2021 show that 293,543 drivers were issued Express Penalty tickets for committing various traffic offences. The fines totalled 26 billion Shillings but by the end of the year, police had collected 19.99 billion Shillings.
At the current rate, police would have received 999.7 million Shillings. But with the increment, the force would get up to 2.99 billion Shillings.
In this year alone, according to traffic police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima, traffic offenders have accumulated arrears of more than 8 billion Shillings. She warns that police starting, Monday next week will not allow any vehicle with unpaid penalty arrears to move freely on the road.
Other than the 8 billion Shillings in arrears that police are launching a hunt for defaulters, the force has collected more than 12 billion Shillings in cash since January. The fines emanate from not wearing seatbelts, crash helmets, pillion riding, obstructing other road users, lack of valid driving license and overloading.
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