Police Aiming at Closing All Roads Around Namugongo on Martyrs’ Day
While speaking to the media at the weekly joint security briefing held at Naguru police headquarters the commandant of traffic for Kampala Metropolitan said that all roads near Namugongo would be shut down from 3:00am to 4:00pm on the same day. Only very important persons or medical vehicles /ambulances will be permitted on the path from kyaliwajala to the CatholicShrine and the Anglican church in Nkiyanja.
According to Rogers Nsereko, the commandant of traffic for Kampala Metropolitan Police, all roads near Namugongo will be shut down from 3:00 am to 4:00 pm on the 3rd June. The daily operations of the Kampala-Jinja Highway won’t be affected, he said. Only vehicles with stickers traveling to Kyaliwajala for Martyrs’ Day celebrations would be permitted on the road from Kireka to Kyaliwajala, according to Nsereko on Monday, May 29, 2023.
He was speaking to the media at the weekly joint security briefing held at the Naguru Police headquarters in Kampala. He claimed that the Kyaliwajala-Naalya route will only have one direction leading to the Northern Bypass.
“We won’t permit vehicles to travel from Naalya to the side of Namugongo. All roads feeding Kyaliwajala-Naalya road will be used to travel to the Northern Bypass, but not the other way around,” Nsereko added.
Only Very Important Persons (VIPs) or medical vehicles/ambulances will be permitted on the path from Kyaliwajala to the Catholic Shrine and the Anglican Church in Nakiyanja. Nsereko says that red sticker holders should follow traffic police instructions and enter Uganda Martyrs Secondary School via Ssemambo Road in order to access the playground at Namugongo Girls’ Primary School.
Dignitaries coming at the Anglican Shrine with VIP stickers will be directed appropriately due to the small space and low capacity. All foreign tourists bearing blue tags will be dropped off at Kyaliwajala junction and given instructions to go to the shrine; their cars will be parked at Vienna College. To avoid any inconvenience from security officers, green stickers will be displayed on the windscreen of all medical vehicles and ambulances.
“Purple tags must be worn by anyone supplying anything to the Catholic Shrine and entry will be prohibited after June 3, 2023, at midnight,” Nsereko said.
He added that all pilgrims travelling to the Mamre Prayer Centre must utilise the Bweyogere-Buto Road or the eastern route through Sonde (on the side of the Jinja road).
“They’ll park according to the traffic cops’ instructions. To reduce inconvenience, all stickers must be placed in a prominent location,” he added.
The primary celebrants from the Jinja diocese will be marked with white tags and will park at the volleyball court at Uganda Martyrs Secondary School. Pilgrims using the northern bypass will park at hillside nursery and primary school, while those from Ntinda – Kiwatule, najjera and kasangati have been encouraged to proceed through Kira town council and park at Kira playground or the municipal council. There will be a checkpoint at the Kireka Trading Center to verify the drivers and a closure of the Naalya roundabout.
Only those with stickers will be allowed on Namugongo Buto, Kyobe Road, Bweyogere town, Agenda 2000 and Namugongo – Semambo Road.
No motorcycles or motor vehicles will be allowed to use any of the cut-off routes, without stickers according to Nsereko. He continued by saying that no taxi stages will be allowed to run in the surrounding Namugongo localities of Kyaliwajala, Sonde, or any other. The Express Penalty Scheme will be used to penalize taxis located on those stages after they are brought into custody.
All vehicles must be parked in the designated parking places. Anyone found to be parking illegally will have their car towed to the police, he said.
