Traffic Police in Kitgum District have banned the use of bamboo poles to reinforce overloaded market trucks, warning that the practice poses a danger to road users and contributes to fatal crashes.
The directive was issued during a road safety sensitisation campaign targeting truck drivers, produce dealers, and vehicle owners operating in and around Kitgum Municipality.
Patrick Oyoo, the Community Liaison Officer in charge of Traffic in Kitgum district, said traffic officers had observed an increasing number of trucks transporting market vendors to monthly markets, while reinforced with bamboo poles tied onto the body structure to extend loading space.
According to Oyoo, some traders and transporters have been extending truck bodies using bamboo to carry excess sacks of goods destined for rural markets and produce bought from rural to urban markets.
“We have realized that bamboo reinforcements are the most dangerous and main cause of overloading. If there are no bamboo sticks tied on the trucks, no one can perch on the side of the truck,” Oyoo said.
He said the modification weakens vehicle stability and increases the risk of overturning, especially on rough roads and during sharp turns.
“The practice not only overloads vehicles, but also compromises the structural integrity of the trucks, putting passengers, loaders, and other motorists at risk,” Oyoo said.
According to Oyoo, several men who go to the markets and come back drunk have fallen off the bamboo poles tied to the trucks, but the cases are not reported to the police.
Oyoo warned that police would begin impounding vehicles found using the illegal reinforcement method, adding that vehicle owners and drivers would face penalties for violating road safety regulations.
Over the past two weeks, police and security officials have held several meetings with drivers and vendors over increasing road crashes involving market vendors going to monthly markets, commonly known as auctions.
Overloading, drunk driving, and poorly serviced vehicles have been identified as the main causes of the crashes.
Quinto Olweny, the chairperson of the market vendors, said the rising death cases among the mobile vendors are worrying, with 20 deaths by road crashes registered in the past 10 years.
The most recent occurred three weeks ago, when at least three people died, and several others were injured after a truck that was transporting vendors from a monthly market in Palabek Abera Sub-county, Lamwo District, crashed in Kitgum District.
Stella Akello, a dealer in secondhand clothes, said the ban will affect women, who struggle to climb the high trucks.
“If possible, they should limit the sizes of the bamboo so that the men don’t sit on them, because these bamboo poles help us climb the high trucks,” Akello said.
Traffic police said enforcement operations targeting overloaded and unsafe commercial vehicles would be intensified across the Aswa East policing region.
Reinforcing trucks with poles in Uganda is illegal, and modifying a vehicle without authorization attracts heavy penalties, such as vehicle impoundment, fines ranging from thirty thousand shillings to over 1.2 million shillings for vehicles in poor mechanical conditions, and potential jail terms of 6 months to 3 years-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
