Fred Edwaru, a senior traffic police officer attached to Kole Central Police Station in the North Kyoga Region is in trouble for bribery. Edwaru was picked up over the weekend on the directives of Dr. Steven Kasiima, the Director Traffic and Road Safety in Uganda Police Force.
Trouble for Edwaru started after he was captured in a video, which went viral on social media receiving a bribe from a truck driver along Lira - Kamdini highway. In the video, the officer is seen engaging the truck driver, before he handed him money, which he tucked away into his pockets and allowed him to proceed with his journey.
The video is believed to have been taken by a traveler who was watching the interaction between the officer and truck driver from a distance. In a statement, Dr. Kasiima, says Edwaru will appear before the Police Disciplinary Committee to answer for his action.
He commends the public for their vigilance on traffic police officers who extort money from road users, adding that the public vigilance has greatly supplemented the efforts of the traffic alert squad that was established in November 2014 to address such cases.
He discloses that about 700 traffic officers have been arrested and sanctioned since the inception of the Traffic Alert Squad. Dr. Kasiima encourages road users to continue exposing such vice so that appropriate action is taken.
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