Inside Uganda’s speed-limit regulation U-turn

How divergent interests emerged in the country’s latest road safety rollout 

Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE |  The government’s recent rollout of the “EPS Auto” speed limit regulations—and their swift suspension amid public backlash—has exposed the conflicting interests of the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, road safety advocates, and the Russian firm tasked with its implementation.

The respective ministries seem to have viewed the so-called Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS), as a tech-driven solution to road safety and security. On the other hand, road safety advocates appear to have seen it as a long-overdue measure to curb reckless driving, while the Russian firm, Joint Stock Company Global Security, likely saw it as a way to recover its hefty investment through traffic fines and penalties.

The speed limit regulations, which were gazetted in February this year, introduced reduced speed limits in newly defined urban centres, along with significantly higher penalties for violations—ranging from Shs 200,000 to Shs 600,000 for drivers who exceed the limits.

“If you are flying at 100KPH on Northern Bypass (Limit: 70KPH) or above 60KPH on Lugogo Bypass (Limit: 30KPH) …that’s 30 currency points out of your wallet…not the old 10. Let’s keep the roads safe…and your money where it belongs,” the Ministry of Works and Transport noted in a statement published in April this year ahead of the enforcement of the speed limit law.

Hefty fines galore

Two months later, in June, the regulations began to take effect. Tickets with hefty fines were issued to motorists caught on claims of violating speed limits and red-light non-compliance, especially in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area where gadgets were installed. Suddenly, the city was gridlocked as no motorist dared to flout the new rules.

What followed was widespread confusion on Uganda’s roads. Kampala, already struggling with road infrastructure deficits including non-existent or poorly marked traffic signs, suddenly became a nightmare even for the most seasoned drivers.

“The issue was actually not just about the 30KPH but the varied speed limits; there were areas of 30KPH, others were 40KPH, 50KPH and so on,” Andrew Mwase, a Kampala-based road safety advocate, told The Independent.

Mwase explained that the sudden change to 30KPH was challenging for the average Ugandan motorist. “Regarding the varied limits, the problem is that our drivers aren’t accustomed to looking out for and reading road signs… Where these signs are installed, drivers often miss them and get caught out.”

He also criticized the excessive fines.

“A fine of Shs 600,000 in an economy where the majority earn about Shs 300,000 per month after taxes was certainly not going to go down well with citizens,” he said.  “The 72-hour deadline to pay the fine before a surcharge is applied is unreasonable,” he added, noting that, “It didn’t require rocket science for whoever made these decisions to anticipate a backlash.”

And that was not the only challenge for the average motorist. In a country where traffic rules are not uniformly enforced—especially when it comes to high-ranking government officials and military personnel who often harass other road users—many motorists were left frustrated.

With the roll-out of the EPS, how was one supposed to respond to the “exceptional impunity” displayed by many armed escorts and lead cars of the country’s VIPs and VVIPs on Uganda’s roads?

“And what was one supposed to do when a Traffic Police Officer waves a motorist through a red light during rush hour?” a motorist asked in a closed WhatsApp group. Another questioned whether the EPS system would consider motorists driving faster at night on Kampala’s unlit and insecure roads.

Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, noted in a June 10 letter to Gen. Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport, that while the intention behind the EPS may have been rooted in promoting road safety and order, its current execution has raised widespread alarm among motorists and other road users.

Ssenyonyi said he had received complaints pointing to the system’s “relentless and, in many cases, excessive issuance of traffic fines without clear and accessible justification.” Drivers have described the EPS as punitive and exploitative rather than corrective or educational, he added.

“There has been a lack of awareness and training; there was inadequate public sensitization prior to the roll-out. Many motorists are not well-informed on how the system works, how to verify penalties, or how to contest wrongful fines.”

Ssenyonyi also flagged the issue of confusing and inconsistent speed limits. He noted how certain areas, such as the Kampala Northern Bypass, enforce low speed limits without clear signage or logical justification, creating confusion and inadvertent violations.

“Security risks due to enforced low speeds were also flagged,” he said, noting that the slow speeds required by the EPS in high-risk areas like the Northern Bypass expose motorists to ambushes, including attacks by criminals wielding stones. “This poses a significant personal safety concern.”

On excessive penalties and restrictions, Ssenyonyi pointed out that motorists with pending tickets are unable to renew their driving licences or even travel out of the country. “Such restrictions are overly harsh, especially where appeals or verifications have been processed.”

“There are also reports of fines being issued erroneously without drivers being aware of the specific violation. In the absence of transparency and recourse, this undermines public trust. During rush hour, traffic police tend to control the flow of traffic,” he explained. “In those cases, motorists have to ignore the traffic lights and follow the direction of traffic police, which exposes them to the risk of automatic penalties that arise from disregarding the traffic lights.” 

‘EPS not a punitive scheme’

Despite the many complaints circulating on traditional and social media platforms, Gen. Katumba Wamala insisted the EPS is not a punitive scheme. He said the system is a road safety measure implemented mainly because of the indiscipline of Ugandan drivers.

“It’s a road safety measure for us to reduce crashes on our roads,” he said. The minister added that the system removes the element of negotiation that previously took place between traffic officers and offenders.

“You can’t negotiate with it; if the camera captures the erring vehicle, it records the vehicle’s number plate, the time when the offence was committed, and the location. But there is also room for the offender to challenge the penalty if they are not satisfied,” he explained.

President Museveni intervenes

As the debate around the EPS intensified, Gen. Katumba Wamala suspended the implementation of the automated express penalty system late on June 12, possibly following President Yoweri Museveni’s criticism earlier that same day.

“I saw some issue about the digital number plates, and fines… that people are being fined for I don’t know what. But the issue about the number plates is not about fines; it is anti-crime,” President Museveni said in a speech shortly after the budget reading on June 12.

“I think the confusion about the EPS could be because we didn’t have the money upfront. So, we told those people (Russian firm) to make the digital number plates, and we would recover the money from those who make mistakes. I think that’s where the confusion started.”

In his own statement, Wamala said that although his ministry has been implementing the Traffic and Road Safety (Prescription of Speed Limits Regulations), 2025, through the EPS Auto module under the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System, it has also received a number of complaints and concerns from the public regarding the implementation of the regulations.

EPS Suspension

On June 11, the Ministry of Works and Transport held consultations with public transport stakeholders, including representatives from the Federation of Uganda Taxi Operators (UTOF), truck drivers, and the Airport Taxi Drivers Association. During the meeting, several concerns were raised—many of which echoed those already expressed by the general public, Wamala’s statement noted.

Among the key issues highlighted was the possibility of errors in synchronizing the system with EPS data from the Police, leading to duplicated fines and the misattribution of offences. Representatives of the public transport associations also noted low sensitization efforts by the government to help road users understand the regulations and the automation of the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS).

“The fines for speeding were excessively harsh, and the 72-hour deadline to pay the fines was too short for many people to meet,” the representatives said. “The 30KPH speed limit implemented broadly across urban areas was overly expansive and should be limited only to specific zones outlined in the regulations—such as school zones, market zones, hospital zones, and church or mosque zones.”

They also raised concerns about the lack of speed limit signs on certain roads, which makes it difficult for road users to comply. “There is a need to align the speed cameras with the posted speed signs. The section from Nkumba to Katabi on Entebbe Road was particularly highlighted.”

In response, Minister Katumba Wamala announced an immediate one-month suspension of the automated express penalty scheme (EPS Auto) from June 12 to July 12, 2025, to allow implementing agencies time to address the gaps in the regulations and the system.

“During this period, the government will verify complaints regarding fines issued through the system, review the regulations, and carry out public sensitization on the regulations and the EPS Auto,” he said. “The ministry will also continue engaging stakeholders to resolve their concerns.”

Rationale for the 30KPH speed limit

On February 14, 2025, the Traffic and Road Safety (Prescription of Speed Limits) Regulations, 2024, were gazetted. Under Section 108(1) of the Traffic and Road Safety Act Cap 347, the regulations set a maximum speed limit of 30KPH on urban and community roads—especially in areas with high pedestrian activity such as schools, hospitals, markets, and business centres.

The regulations apply regardless of whether speed limit signs are posted. Drivers are expected to know and comply with this rule for safety reasons, with police enforcing compliance through the Express Penalty Scheme. The overarching goal is to reduce road crashes and protect pedestrians.

Signed late last year by the Minister of Works and Transport, the regulations reduced urban speed limits from 50KPH to 30KPH, while also redefining urban areas. Speed limits on all roads adjacent to schools, places of worship, hospitals, markets, or business centres with high human or vehicle interaction were capped at 30KPH.

For major highways with single carriageways, speed limits were lowered to below 100KPH, with only dual carriageways allowed a maximum speed of 100KPH. The regulations also imposed speed limits on rural roads: passenger vehicles on paved roads were limited to 80KPH, 60KPH on gravel roads, and 30KPH on community access roads.

Motorcycles, tricycles, and quadricycles were restricted to 60KPH on paved roads, 30KPH on gravel roads, and 30KPH on roads passing through urban centres. Public service vehicles and private omnibuses seating eight or more passengers (excluding the driver) were limited to 80KPH on paved roads, 60KPH on gravel roads, and 30KPH in urban and built-up areas.

Road safety context

For road safety advocates, these regulations were timely, given the thousands of lives lost annually on Uganda’s roads. According to annual Police Crime Reports, speeding is among the top five risk factors contributing to road crashes and fatalities.

Globally, human error accounts for over 80% of all road accidents, and in Uganda, 44.5% of crashes have been attributed specifically to speeding. The 2024 Police Annual Crime Report recorded 25,107 road crashes, resulting in 5,144 fatalities.

However, the figures submitted by the government to the World Health Organization (WHO)—the UN agency responsible for publishing the Global Status Report on Road Safety—may not fully capture the true scale of road carnage on Uganda’s roads.

Writing in his personal capacity on his X account, Ronald Amanyire, a senior road safety expert in the Ministry of Works and Transport, explains that due to limited vital registration data, figures from many low-income countries like Uganda undergo simulated adjustments to provide more accurate estimates of road crash fatalities.

When this methodology is applied to Uganda’s reported deaths, the number rises to over 7000. By incorporating additional data sources, the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) developed the Safety Insights Explorer—a tool designed to reveal the true extent of road crashes, assess global road safety, and demonstrate the positive impact of strategic investments.

Using the Safety Insights Explorer, iRAP estimated Uganda’s human toll from road crashes at 151,669 fatalities and injuries annually, with the economic burden totaling US$1.9 billion (about Shs 7 trillion), or 4.5% of the country’s GDP.

Amanyire says the same tool projected a business case scenario estimating that an investment of US$29.4 million since 2021 could reduce road crash fatalities by 50% by 2030. This investment is expected to yield an annual benefit of US$839.5 million, resulting in a cost-to-benefit ratio of 38.8.

“Not only have we fallen behind by five years, but the glaring absence of a future strategy is deeply concerning. We need to leave flashy workshops and conferences behind and start advocating for funding to quickly combat road carnage,” Amanyire said.

Sam Bambaza, the Executive Director of Safe Transport And Survivors Support Uganda (STASSU), a non-profit dedicated to preventing road crash fatalities and injuries in Uganda, told The Independent that the government is actively implementing the global road safety action plan to which Uganda is a signatory.

He explained that the plan incorporates a wide range of best practices aimed at deploying interventions intended to reduce road crash fatalities. Bambaza highlighted the enforcement of the 30KPH speed limit in built-up areas such as schools, markets, and residential neighbourhoods like Naalya Estate, Nakasero, and Kalerwe Market, as well as schools like Kololo Secondary School in Kampala.

Bambaza points to studies which have shown that a pedestrian hit by a vehicle travelling at 30KPH has a much higher chance of survival than one struck at 50KPH. In Uganda, statistics reveal that school-going children fatalities rose from 872 in 2022 to an even higher figure in 2023. “These children are being killed on our roads, which is why we have strongly advocated for the 30KPH speed limit,” Bambaza told The Independent.

However, Bambaza said the recent confusion in the country stems from how the 30KPH speed limit has been implemented through the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS). He explained that when the speed limit regulations came into force earlier this year, the government chose to integrate them directly with the automated EPS.

He argued that instead, the government should have relied on the safe schools infrastructure guide, which recommends, for example, signage indicating the presence of a school 100 metres before and 100 metres after the school gate, along with raised zebra crossings near the school gates.

“The signage is meant to warn motorists they are entering a school zone and, after 100 metres past the gate, inform them they have left the school zone. The road around the school zone should also be narrowed to communicate to motorists not to overtake,” Bambaza said.

He added: “This infrastructure should be complemented by crossing supervisors—men or women with bright flags who assist children to cross safely. All these measures naturally compel motorists to reduce their speed as they approach the school zone.” “There is no need to install speed cameras or station police officers there, whether during the day or at night,” he said.

Bambaza told The Independent that, given the government’s limited resources, the infrastructure should have been implemented in phases—starting with Kampala, followed by other cities, and then municipalities.

Still, Amanyire acknowledges the good intentions behind Uganda’s road safety regulations but warns that involving a private firm motivated solely by profit could undermine the effectiveness of the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS).

“The strategic placement of speed cameras has made this evident, prioritizing revenue collection over road safety and fueling public outrage, which defeats the original objective,” he said. He added: “The 30 KPH speed limit emerged from global road safety advocacy, encouraging countries to implement it in urban areas with high pedestrian and cyclist traffic. Schools, markets, mosques, and churches generate significant pedestrian flow, making lower speed limits particularly beneficial.”

Nevertheless, Amanyire expressed doubts about whether this approach can be effectively implemented in Uganda. He notes that when the first Express Penalty Scheme (EPS) regulations were introduced in the mid-2000s, motorists were granted a 28-day grace period to pay fines. Widespread non-compliance, however, prompted the Traffic Police to set up roadblocks to enforce payments—a measure that was later banned.

In order to improve compliance, the regulation was amended around 2012 or 2013 to include a 50% surcharge on fines unpaid within the initial 28 days. The original 28-day grace period stemmed from the Traffic and Road Safety Act of 1998 but was reduced to just 72 hours in a January 2020 amendment. Ideally, the penalty structure should have been adjusted accordingly, lowering the surcharge from 50% to perhaps 10%.

“The most pressing issue now is the need for thorough consultations with the Police, KCCA, and the Ministry regarding the placement of cameras. If such consultations have not occurred, it is no surprise that the uproar stems from multiple tickets being issued along a single stretch of road,” Amanyire said.

He further notes that, given the widespread traffic congestion in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA), it may be necessary to conduct surveys or analyse police data to determine how many fatalities are caused by speeding in the region.

“In addition, assessing whether speed cameras are truly essential in GKMA, or if they would be more effective on highways, is equally important. These insights will help shape a comprehensive mass sensitization campaign on radio and television lasting approximately three months,” he said in a series of tweets.

As for Mwase, he believes road safety advocates could have missed a significant opportunity to educate the public about speed and safety. “I think we got the media and public talking, but the question is: ‘What were they talking about?’

“They focused on excessive penalties, unrealistic payment deadlines, surcharges, and varied speed limits. They were complaining, not learning about road safety. I think we lost out on an opportunity to communicate a strategy that embraces and teaches the majority of issues we need to address.”