Amputee Self-Help Network Uganda (ASNU), which advocates for road crash survivors, has urged the government to expedite the resumption of the Automated Express Penalty Scheme on Ugandan roads.
The government recently extended the suspension of the controversial Automated Express Penalty Scheme (EPS) and related speed limit regulations, which were originally halted in June 2025 following public outcry over high fines, technical inaccuracies, and inadequate public sensitization.
However, the co-founder of Amputee Self-Help Network Uganda, Charlotte Kangume, while addressing the media at Hotel Africana in Kampala, said the Ministry of Works and Transport needs to act urgently to curb road accidents caused by careless and over-speeding motorists—especially at a time when children are returning to school.
She noted that the express penalty system should not be viewed as a punishment, but rather as a measure to protect children and all road users.
She added that “everyone was moving at the correct speed limit. And this is not because there was a police officer waiting for them around the corner, but because they knew there was a system that was going to hold them accountable for their decisions as they were on the road.”
Kangume said she had been informed by the government that the express penalty systems have since been revised so that the regulations are no longer as harsh as before. She noted that when the system was operational, compliance with traffic rules significantly improved, with motorists adhering to the correct speed limits.
She explained that “their systems have been worked on so that the regulations are not as harsh as they were before. And these are supposed to protect us. We noticed that when that system was in place, very few people broke the rules. I think everyone was abiding by them.”
She also called for the Automated Express Penalty Scheme to be expanded countrywide.
Kangume further noted that many school-going children have died, while others have lost parts of their bodies in road accidents caused by reckless driving.
She said, “there is no one to cater for their safety on the roads they use, even as pedestrians, because we live in a reckless country. We live in a selfish country with people who don’t care what their neighbor is going through, and who don’t care how their actions affect those around them. Every day, Uganda loses so many school-going children to reckless driving. Many of them have died, lost their lives, or lost their limbs in road traffic accidents.”
