Ug. Police. Express Penalty Scheme for Road Offenders

“LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE HERE AND GO 

On Saturday as I was coming back from Entebbe where I had gone to attend the Uganda Law Society Annual General Meeting, I had the misfortune of taking the Station Road which has since been converted into a one way. It was only when I got to the end of the road that I saw the sign indicating no entrance. Well seeing as there was nowhere else to go, I joined the main road. Lo and behold a policeman came running towards my car, charged like a hungry lion, indicating that I should leave the line and park on the pavement, which I did. 

I knew I was in the wrong and so did not bother replying him when he went on and on about how I had broken the law. As if he had not just been alerted to it by their spies who stand in that corner acting as their collecting agents. Well I apologized and admitted that I was in the wrong and was ready to pay the penalty as set out by law. 

To my utter astonishment, the Policeman told me that I was required to park the vehicle right there by the roadside at their makeshift Police Post at Kitgum House and go and pay the fine first and then come back and retrieve the vehicle. He was probably hoping I would offer him a bribe like the gentleman I had just seen in the car in front of me. 

I told him that his order was ludicrous, illegal and out of the question. He insisted that he had a directive from his boss. At which point he allegedly called his boss whose phone was allegedly switched off. 

Well I told him the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998 and specifically the Traffic and Road Safety (Express Penalty Scheme for Road Offenders) Regulations, 2004 that provide for express and fixed penalties, give the offender a period of 28 days to pay the fine. Furthermore there is no requirement to leave the motor vehicle at the police station prior to payment of the fine. There is no one above the law and laws are not conveniently amended at the whims of policemen. To further prove my point, I asked him for the Penalty book and showed him the wording “PAYABLE WITHIN 28 DAYS AFTER THIS NOTICE”. 

At this point the enraged policeman could only look at me in anger. I stared right back at him and told him to give my ticket and I would pay the penalty later but leaving my vehicle behind was out of the question. He sighed and said “you can go!” and off I went. 

In a nutshell, get acquainted with the law and always stand firm and defend your rights against any goliath that thinks they are the law.

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