Stickers revoked, vehicles impounded in operation on uncleared motorists swarming the road

Several movement stickers have been withdrawn and many other vehicles impounded after security launched an operation on motorists that have swarmed the road using unauthorized stickers

According to Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, the joint task force on Saturday conducted a nationwide operation targeting motorists flouting the ban on the movement of vehicles as part of the efforts to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The task teams created several checkpoints and found motorists who had left their homes to visit friends, go for non-essential shopping, transporting passengers, while others had no reason. In the course of the operation, a total of 83 stickers were withdrawn from motorists within the Kampala Metropolitan Area for various reasons,”Enanga said.

The police mouthpiece said many of the movement stickers were not linked to the identity cards of the bearers whereas some vehicles had been misused by the drivers to conduct non-essential movements including being hired out by unauthorized persons.

“Some stickers had been  photocopied or scanned and printed, others  stickers  were duplicated and printed some  vehicles were  using old stickers from the Ministry of Health that were declared invalid whereas some  institutional vehicles  were carrying excess staff in contravention of the Ministry of Health Standard Operating Procedures,” Enanga said.

“We also encountered vehicles with permits from RCCs/RDCs and LCs, with clearances for periods up to one week, that are not related to medical emergencies; pickups carrying passengers and institutional vehicles like banks that were carrying non employees most likely for commercial or other reasons.”

He said that whereas majority of them were asked to return to their homes, some of the vehicles were impounded.

The police spokesperson said the operation will continue as they crackdown on members of the public who flout the presidential directives on combating the spread of the deadly virus.

“The joint task force is committed to enforcing the directives and guidelines from the president and Ministry of Health. We continue to thank the majority of Ugandans and visitors that are complying with social distancing and stay at home guidelines,”Enanga said.