Pedestrians, boda bodas and vehicles above 7.5 tons will be barred from using the newly built Kampala flyover, the Works and Transport Minister, General Edward Katumba Wamala has revealed in his latest press brief. This will also apply to the tunnel connecting to Arena Mall as one heads to Nsambya.
He advised pedestrians to always use the crossing points that have been provided, saying that whoever gets knocked from any other point of the road at the flyover will not be compensated.
Katumba also urged Ugandans to cooperate with him and report government vehicles that are driven in a bad manner by taking pictures and uploading them to social media so that they can be apprehended.
Katumba ordered the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to enforce the Road Safety Act passed in 2019, which prohibits business activities in road reserves and on the roadsides. He said this conflicts with the traffic flow and denies pedestrians freedom to use the road.
According to the Road Safety Act, a person who carries out business on the shoulders of the road or in a road reserve commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 168 currency points. Each currency point is Shillings 20,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 7 years or both.
In 2022 KCCA introduced the smart city campaign, which saw several street vendors and traders evicted from the city center and in different divisions. However, the vendors have returned to the streets and transacting business despite KCCA’s efforts to evict them.
David Luyimbazi, the Deputy Executive Director (KCCA) said that they don’t have demarcated road reserves and with the benefit of the minister’s orders KCCA will stop people from operating from frontages of the land between the building and the street.
He added that KCCA will go ahead and implement the post-NAM plan, which the Authority has come up with to see that the city is decongested. He added that enforcement and supervision are going to be regular. John Bosco Ssejjemba, the Director of Road Infrastructure from the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) noted that they will pick from the NAM activities to clear the road reserves in collaboration with KCCA.
Story by URN