Police have announced that drink-driving operations targeting drunk drivers will resume on Friday night in Kampala
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said on Friday afternoon that they will begin with trial operations.
“The operations will be in selected areas of the city. After the trial, it will be massive operations,” Onyango told the Nile Post.
“When we arrest you for drink-driving, you will be detained until the following day when you will be issued with a shs200,000 express penalty system ticket that you will have to pay in the bank before you are released together with your vehicle.”
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson however urged motorists to either desist from drinking or if they do, they should get someone to drive them.
“Do not fall in our trap. Do not drink and drive. Get someone to drive you or take a cab,” Onyango warned.
The drink-drive operations are returning after a three year lull due to the Covid pandemic.
The operations were halted in 2020 due to COVID-19 after the Ministry of Health advised against the use of breathalyzers, for fear of spreading Covid-19 in the process.
Last week, the ministry however recommended the resumption of the operations to curb the increasing number of accidents.
The ministry noted that owing to the significant reduction in Covid cases, they have evaluated the risk of getting COVID-19 through breathalyzers and found it negligible.
“Besides, Uganda Police has has confirmed that each client will use a separate, sealed and disposable tube to blow through the breathalyzer. It is against this background therefore, that Ministry of Health recommends immediate re- introduction of breathalyzers to test alcohol levels consumed by motorists,” the Director General of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Henry Mwebesa said in a statement last week.
