The police in Wamala region are holding one suspect accused of placing unauthorised road sign inscriptions on some sections of the Kampala- Kiboga-Hoima highway in total contradiction of the known official procedures.
Wamala regional police spokesperson Lameck Kigozi said the unauthorised road sign inscriptions written in big letters, read: ‘Protest Vote.’ He said these reflect individual political opinions and affiliations, but also go against the mandate of any individual to do the work only authorised by the Ministry of Works and Transport.
In a statement last weekend,Mr Kigozi said the Kiboga District Police Commander, with the support of sister security agencies, conducted an intelligence- led operation in Kiyinja Village, Kyekumbya Sub-county, and in Lwamata Town Council in Kiboga District last Saturday which led to the arrest of the suspect believed to be behind the illegal inscriptions on the highway. ‘The search made in his two homes in Kiyinja Village and Lwamata Town Council led to recovery of some exhibits of evidential value.
The suspect admits to being part of a group that wrongfully inscribed a public road and efforts are being made to apprehend all the accomplices in this act,’ he said. Mr Kigozi said the arrested suspect and others still at large, believed to be agents of the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party, riding on a numberless motorcycle placed the road sign inscriptions at sections of the Kampala- Kiboga-Hoima highway at around 9.20pm last Friday, before speeding off to yet unknown location.
‘Whereas it is the duty of the Ministry of Works and Transport to inscribe our roads for whichever reason based on the ministry’s statutory duties, it’s an act of sabotage for a layman to inscribe a public road with wordings reflecting personal or political affiliation or inciting the public,’ he said. ‘I hereby caution the public in the region to desist from such acts of sabotage driven by their respective political ambitions.
Anybody caught in such actions will be arrested and prosecuted,’ Mr Kigozi said. The clearly read wordings that attract attention of the road users placed at sections of the highway in Lwamata Town Council, Mr Kigozi said, raise suspicion about the intentions of the suspects and why they rode on a numberless motorcycle and quickly disappeared.
‘They possibly knew that they were acting outside the law. But the police are hunting for them,’ he said.
Mr Emmanuel Gizamba Masaba, a road safety expert, told this publication that road signs attract the attention of the road users and must be authorised by the relevant government departments.
By press time yesterday, the suspect was still in police custody and his accomplices still at large.