On Saturday, 26th August 2023, after a successful work trip to Gulu, on our way back, the traffic police stopped us for what we thought was a routine check. Our driver of the day, Richard, asked me: “are there any outstanding tickets on this car?” I confidently responded, no.

First, the traffic policeman asked Richard for his driving permit, which he confidently handed over, in soft copy on his phone. All was good and the policeman returned Richard’s phone to him. We begun to prepare to be released to be on our way – back in our seats and buckle seat belts.

Then the policeman hits us with the shocker. There is a pending ticket tagged on this vehicle and it is overdue. I beg your pardon, I thought. Then the officer read out the details, and we confirmed that indeed the name was of a person who actually drove the car in 2022.

What the ‘offender’ did not tell us, before he stopped working for CPAR Uganda, was that on 25th February 2022, over a year ago, he had committed the traffic offense described as: “careless or inconsiderate use of motor vehicle.” And that he and the vehicle were penalized Shs. 100,000.

Obviously, he had acknowledged the fine, for “failure to sign may lead to your arrest.” If he hadn’t signed he would have been arrested and perhaps senior management at CPAR Uganda would have been notified, since the vehicle would also have been detained by the Police,

The purpose of the signature is clear: “I sign my name as evidence of receipt of a copy of this charge and not as an admission of guilt.” The note was valid for 28 days and thereafter a 50 percent surcharge applied. Within this period the ‘offender’ has the “right to stand trial in case you do not want to pay the fine.”

Since our ‘ofender’ did not opt to stand trial, did not pay the fine and did not inform management about it, CPAR Uganda has ended up having to pay Shs. 150,000. There was no two ways about it. There was only one way. Pay the fine tagged on the vehicle or park the vehicle by the roadside for it would be detained by the police; and that was not an option for us.

There was only one way of paying – via mobile money, which we did. Before we were on our way, however, we waited a few minutes until the e-system confirmed receipt of the penalty payment and confirmed that the CPAR Uganda vehicle was no longer tagged.

And so, our ‘offender’ has gotten away with it. He did not have to pay the fine himself, since the tag on his driving permit was also cleared. I honestly wish for the policy to change so that the penalty is applied in such a way that the offender is penalized 50 percent and the vehicle 50 percent. As in we would have only had to pay 50 percent and the rest retained tagged on the ‘offenders’ driving permit.

All in all, however, kudos to the Uganda Police Force for going digital on administering traffic offenses; including making and receiving of payments. In our case, in addition, for this particular case, the policeman who handled us did so in a polite and professional manner.

I share this in to educate and inspires colleagues in senior management to regularly crosscheck that your organisations vehicles are traffic offense fine free. And if not, to ensure the ‘offender’ if still in your organisation’s employ to pay and or safe your organisation from paying the surcharge.

It may be wise also, to include as part of recruitment of drivers, verification of their driving permits to establish if they have pending fines for traffic offenses with the Uganda Police. And also asking former employers if they have ever had to pay fines.