SPEED CAMERAS: Professional drivers call for action as Uganda road deaths rise

Kampala, Uganda | NEWS CORRESPONDENT |  Uganda’s professional drivers have called on the government to restore automated speed enforcement, arguing that effective traffic cameras could help curb dangerous driving and reduce the country’s rising road death toll.

The Uganda Professional Drivers Network (UPDN), Road Safety Coalition Uganda (ROSACU) and their partners made the appeal on Sunday, November 15, during the World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims at Bwaise Transport Terminal in Kampala.

The organisations called for a credible, transparent and accountable enforcement system that protects road users while addressing motorists’ concerns over the previous rollout.

“Effective speed cameras, transparent procedures and accountable enforcement can strengthen efforts to reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads,” UPDN said in a statement.

“We all have a responsibility to make our roads safer. Road safety should not be left to one group of people,” said Apollo Kasule, Uganda Drivers’ Board Chairperson.

He also emphasised the need for “every road user to observe safety standards and take responsibility for protecting lives, including those of future generations.”

The call is significant coming from professional drivers, who earn their living behind the wheel and are among those directly affected by traffic penalties.

It comes as Uganda grapples with a road safety crisis that claims approximately 15 lives every day.

Police recorded 5,383 road crash deaths in 2025, up from 5,144 the previous year, while another 18,444 people sustained injuries.

SP Michael Kananura, spokesperson for the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety, said many of these crashes were preventable, citing speeding, reckless overtaking, drink-driving and distracted driving.

“We must therefore stop treating road deaths as an inevitable consequence of mobility. Getting from one destination to another should never come at the expense of someone’s life,” he said.

Government plans revised enforcement system

The drivers’ appeal comes as the government prepares to restore automated traffic enforcement.

Speaking at the commemoration, Apollo Kashanku, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Road Transport Regulation and Safety at the Ministry of Works and Transport, said the government plans to “reintroduce a revised Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and reinstate the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS).”

Automated enforcement under the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS) uses surveillance cameras and number plate recognition technology to detect offences such as speeding and running red lights.

The system is intended to address enforcement gaps arising from Uganda’s limited number of traffic officers, particularly along busy highways and urban roads.

Robert Kisakye, a Senior Licensing Officer at the ministry, recently estimated that Uganda had no more than 2,000 traffic officers, arguing that cameras could provide more consistent enforcement and encourage motorists to obey traffic regulations even in the absence of police officers.

“As long as you know that this is an area that is being manned by cameras, you will behave. From that change of behaviour, we shall have safe roads and we shall have met our objectives,” Kisakye said.

However, restoring automated enforcement will require rebuilding public confidence.

The EPS was suspended in June 2025 following public outcry over steep fines, a 72-hour payment window and the application of the 30km/h speed limit in built-up areas.

The drivers’ renewed support for automated enforcement suggests that the controversy surrounding its implementation need not undermine its potential to save lives.

Road safety advocates are calling for effective speed cameras backed by transparent procedures and accountable enforcement.

Kashanku also urged motorists to take their vehicles for regular inspections, emphasising that safer roads require both stronger enforcement and responsible behaviour.

The professional drivers said the return of speed cameras is not simply about penalties but about making the roads on which they earn their livelihoods safer for themselves, their passengers and other road users.

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