EPS? Much ado about nothing

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WHAT’S UP!

Someone, or some people, in the Government, seems to think that the newly introduced Express Penalty Scheme (EPS) will solve Ugandan traffic problems and turn Ugandan drivers instantly into sane, law-abiding citizens. I struggled to come up with something family-friendly to refer to these sentiments, but the title of one of William Shakespeare’s plays came to mind – it’s all really “much ado about nothing.

I remember one Uber driver who was very excited about the onset of digital car number plates, and how they would catch all bad drivers and those who do not respect traffic laws. He thought it was all about government vehicles, and how any traffic infringement would be reported in real time to the Police and the vehicle department.

I was reluctant to burst his bubble, but I explained that all that fuss and all the money given to a shadowy Russian outfit was to enable GPS tracking of all cars – something that is pretty standard in more organised societies. And whereas GPS tracking is primarily designed for effective traffic management, Uganda’s digital car number plates scheme is more about security and surveillance. So, it is more about where any Mukasa, Mugisha or Opio is than whether they have created a third and fourth lane on a single lane road. The poor Uber driver did not say much after that, and I really hated ruining his morning.

And of course, typically Ugandan, the digital car number plates scheme, also known as the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), is not working the way it is supposed to.

Reports indicate that the system is not tracking vehicles properly, and fears are that what was supplied was not what was required. The contracted Russian firm reportedly is more of a ‘brokerage firm’ that imports the number plates from Poland, rather than manufacturing them itself.

Something like going to one of those arcades in Kampala’s central business district to buy something, you agree on a price, then the shop girl tells you to wait a minute while they disappear somewhere. I used to think they go to a store to pick up the said item, but was told they go to where it is sold cheaper, and so make enjawulo. Our Russian firm does more or less the same thing, so we shouldn’t be surprised if it is not working as expected.

And of course, it is a lot more expensive than a centralised GPS tracking system, but no surprises there.

Another thing, it was supposed to be integrated into the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, but that hasn’t happened for all kinds of reasons. The CCTV system itself has faced major challenges. Launched in 2017, it is reported that less than 50% of the cameras installed in Kampala are currently working. In addition, the National Command Centre, where all CCTV activities are supposed to be monitored, is only 40% complete.

Which brings us back to the Express Penalty Scheme (EPS), which is supposed to be part of the ITMS. The system is assumed to ‘detect traffic offences such as speeding, red-light violations and improper lane usage via cameras and sensors placed at key points like junctions and highways’. Using the digital number plates to identify the drivers, fines are then sent instantly to the culprit’s known mobile phone number by SMS.

Sounds good, right? But it all depends on other parts of the system working, and in Uganda, we know that is ‘hard paper’, as we say. First of all, to be effective, the EPS depends on the digital number plates scheme, which is hopelessly behind schedule. It was supposed to have been fully implemented by January this year, starting with all government vehicles.

But by January, only about 2,000 out of about 50,000 government vehicles had been fitted with the digital number plates. Estimates also indicate that only about 12,000 private vehicles, out of two million, have digital number plates.

A big problem looks to be the inventory. The Russian based supplier has to buy the plates from Poland. Given that there are sanctions on all things Russian, they have to find clever ways to go around those sanctions, making the supply of said plates to Uganda uncertain.

So, given all these factors, it is difficult to estimate when the digital plates scheme will be fully implemented. And without that, the EPS will not be very effective. Yeah, much ado about nothing.

Then there is the reality on the ground. Much of the traffic mess in Kampala and elsewhere in Uganda is mainly caused by bodabodas, including many accidents. While no figures are available, several reports of accidents on Uganda’s highways indicate many are caused by motorists trying to avoid hitting bodabodas.

Running red lights in Uganda is a very common occurrence, and the cause is, again, bodabodas. When the lights turn green, a whole horde of those small bikes take off in all directions, blocking vehicles. By the time the cars start to move, the lights have turned red again, and irate drivers just ignore them. The strange thing is, almost all the time, traffic Police are on the scene, and do absolutely nothing about the bodabodas.

Are bodas also part of the EPS? Will bodaboda owners be fined every time their riders break traffic laws, which is just about always? That should be interesting to see how it works out.

So, unless efforts are made to control bodas, all traffic control systems are moot, including the EPS.

Yeah, much ado about nothing.

You can follow Kalungi Kabuye on X: @KalungiKabuye