Government has announced that mandatory vehicle inspection will officially start in July.
Works and Transport Minister, Gen Katumba Wamala told journalists on Friday that preparations are underway to beat the July deadline.
"By July, we will start the mandatory vehicle inspection. We will start with passenger service vehicles and good vehicles including trucks," Gen Katumba said.
Mandatory vehicle inspection has been in the offing for many years but the move to have it done by a private company was stopped by parliament.
Consequently, cabinet directed that government handles the inspection.
Early this year, the Ministry of Works and Transport assumed control of vehicle inspection services, previously managed by SGS Uganda Ltd.
The facilities at Nabbingo, Namanve, Kawanda and Namulanda are currently under government.
The Works Minister said on Friday that currently, they are training police and ministry staff on what to do as preparations for inspection work to start in July.
"Before we carry out the inspection, we will educate the public, train personnel and test the equipment. Come July, we will officially roll out the mandatory vehicle inspection," he said.
"Before going to the road, every vehicle will be inspected and don't be surprised to see many of the old taxis you usually see not returning to the road. What will happen is that if a vehicle is not found to be fit to be on the road, it will not be given the PSV licence."
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Commenting about the fourth Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety that took place in Marrakech, Morocco, from 18-20 February 2025 that he participated in, the Works and Transport Minister said ministers from over 100 countries worldwide committed to reduce crashes and deaths on roads by half by the year 2030.
With the theme of "Commit to Life", the event brought leaders and experts together to accelerate action towards the Sustainable Development Goals' target of halving global road deaths by 2030.
Gen Katumba said reaffirmed Uganda's commitment to the global target.
"We commit to preserve the life of everybody. Whether you a pedestrian, cyclist or driver, you must commit to save a life on the road. It is no longer making sense every year, for us to report high number of deaths and crashes on the road," Gen Katumba said.
"We are not doing well as country and we are number 10 on the continent. We are doing badly as a country in terms of road safety and it is impacting other aspects of the economy. It is high time we committed to changing this situation."
He said government will target new players to be brought on board in terms of ensuring road safety, mentioning multinational companies and other members of the private sector in the fight.
