APONYE DEATH: Ugandans to be Jailed for Four Years for Parking Cars on Roadside for Two Hours

The death of city tycoon Apollo Nyegamehe aka Aponye has reignited calls for penalties against drivers and vehicle owners who park on both urban and rural roadsides for many hours.

Aponye, the billionaire businessman from Rukiga in Kigezi Sub-region, died on spot last Thursday, July 06, after his vehicle rammed into a truck that was parked on the roadside at Itojo in Ntungamo on the Mbarara-Kabale Road.

Now, Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among (Bukedea DWR – NRM) wants Section 59 of the Road Act 2019 against roadside parking enforced to stop such accidents.

Speaker Among argued that the deaths of former Erute MP Gutumoi Angiro and businessman Aponye  could have been avoided if the Museveni Government had enforced provisions in the Road Act 2019.

The speaker was sad to note that the life of an inspirational Ugandan such as Aponye who she said could make rain in desert given his business acumen, was lost in an accident as his posh vehicle rammed into an abandoned car.

Aponye started his journey into business as a wheelbarrow pusher in Kabale town. By the time his life ended in his mid-60s, Aponye was a billionaire.

Speaker Among has now tasked the government side in Parliament to explain why there are many parked cars along roads in Uganda yet the section 58 of the Road Act 2019 empowers government to tow away parked vehicles on urban roads within two hours and rural roads within six hours or have the vehicle owners serve a jail term of four years or pay a fine or both.

Section 59 on Broken-down or abandoned vehicles read:

• A person whose vehicle breaks down or who is involved in a road accident on a public road shall remove the vehicle from the public road in accordance with this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (1), a vehicle which breaks down or which is involved in an accident in an urban area shall be removed from the public road within two hours from the time of the breakdown or accident.

(3) Subject to subsection (1), a vehicle which breaks down or which is involved in an accident in a rural area shall be removed from a public road within six hours from the time of the break down or accident.

4) A person shall not repair a vehicle along a public road, except for emergency cases and the repair time shall not exceed a period of two hours in an urban area and six hours in a rural area.

(5) Repair of broken down vehicles or a vehicle involved in a road accident in emergency cases shall not be done in a manner that causes or is likely to cause danger, obstruction or undue inconvenience to other road users or cause damage to the road.

(6) A road authority or a police officer shall, after the two hours referred to in subsection (2), cause to be towed, a mechanically broken vehicle, to a yard at the nearest police station and the vehicle shall be removed by the owner or his or her representative after paying the cost of towing.

(7) A vehicle left unattended on a public road for two hours or more shall be considered to be abandoned unless, prior to the expiration of the two hours, the owner of the vehicle or his or her representative has notified a road authority or the police that the vehicle is to be parked for an extended period of time and the road authority or the police has permitted the owner of the vehicle to be parked for an extended time, subject to such conditions as the road authority or the police may deem necessary.

(8) Any person who repairs a vehicle along a road or leaves a vehicle unattended on a public road without authorisation from a road authority or the police commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding ninety six currency points or imprisonment not exceeding four years, or both.

(9) A driver of a motor vehicle that has broken down or is involved in an accident shall provide adequate warnings, at a reasonable distance that does not cause or is likely to cause danger, obstruction or undue inconvenience to other road users and where the manner of parking is indicated by a sign post or marking on the road side, the driver shall park the vehicle or trailer in such a manner.

(10) A person who fails to provide a warning in accordance with subsection (9) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding forty eight currency points or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.

(11) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle on the shoulders, cycle ways, pedestrian crossing or footways of a public road.

(12) A person who contravenes subsection (11) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding forty eight currency points or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both.

(13) A court convicting a person of an offence under subsection (12) may, in addition to any penalty imposed order the person to pay for the cost of repairing the damage caused to the public road.

You can read about the death of Aponye and ex-MP Gutumoi Here and There.

The late billionaire businessman Aponye’s wife has revealed her husband’s final words in a ‘goodbye phone call’ before he perished in the deadly accident. (See Details Here).

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has spoken about ‘APONYE’S COVID19 ROTTEN BEANS,’ telling off Ugandans Demonizing Fallen Tycoon Yet They Have Never Even Owned a Tomato Stall. (Read Story Here).

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