A fierce exchange erupted on Tuesday after a crippling traffic jam along the Kampala–Masaka highway left hundreds of motorists trapped for close to 20 hours, turning a routine journey into an ordeal and igniting a political storm between opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, and Uganda’s traffic police.
Kyagulanyi publicly blamed President Yoweri Museveni for the chaos, alleging that security operatives deliberately blocked parts of the busy highway to allow the president to campaign in Mpigi District. According to the opposition figure, motorists were forced to endure hours of standstill as presidential movements allegedly took priority over civilian travel.
In his remarks, Kyagulanyi painted the gridlock as a symbol of deeper governance failures, arguing that ordinary Ugandans continue to suffer due to what he described as poor leadership. He questioned how emergency cases, including patients being rushed to hospitals, could survive such disruptions, insisting that no leader should have the power to paralyze citizens’ lives in the name of politics.
The opposition leader went further, accusing the ruling administration of lacking a servant-leadership mindset. He claimed the incident exposed an attitude where citizens are treated as subjects to be controlled rather than people to be served, fueling public anger and frustration.
Uganda’s traffic police swiftly dismissed these claims, firmly distancing President Museveni from the highway chaos. Traffic police spokesperson Michael Kananura described the accusations as misleading, insisting that the gridlock had nothing to do with presidential movements or political activities.
Kananura explained that the congestion was largely caused by an unusually high number of vehicles heading toward Kampala, combined with widespread indiscipline among motorists. He said drivers created illegal lanes, ignored traffic rules, and ended up blocking both directions of the road, making the situation spiral out of control.
The situation, police said, was further aggravated by accidents and mechanical failures. A collision involving a truck and a lorry at Lungala, along with a trailer breakdown near Kamengo, severely disrupted traffic flow and made recovery efforts more difficult.
By Tuesday, police reported that order had largely been restored and the road cleared, though traffic remained slow in some sections. Authorities urged motorists to exercise patience and discipline, warning that reckless driving and misinformation only worsen already fragile road situations.
