By Scovin Iceta

On a rainy Monday evening in the first week of March, traffic on several parts of Kampala city ground to halt, for more than two hours. On Jinja Road between Kitgum House Road Junction to Nakawa trafficking heading out of town went into gridlock, while traffic in the opposite direction had smooth flow.

At the industrial areas, all the streets from the 1^st to the 8^th street were clogged with heavy traffic heading out of town, while similar cases were reported across the city.

This particular Monday afternoon had a heavy downpour and after that, majority of the people working in the city centre tried to exit the town as floods set in. Kampala is prone to flooding during raining days owing to the fact that majority of the wetlands have been destroyed, poor drainages and buildings constructed in the wetlands.

At various points in the city, police recorded at least 41 crashes, with the industrial area registering about 25 cases, while Kyebando-Bukoto intersection on Northern Bypass, at least 11 crashes involving motorcycles, pedestrians and two cars with private number plates were also registered. The rest of the cases were registered in various parts of the city.

For John Arinaitwe, it was the beginning of a painful experience when he was left to battle it alone with his three children after his wife, Rosemary Atuhaire died in one of the crashes. They also lost the house help who had been caring for the children while both were at work.

“She was driving her own car when another car that was driving reckless knocked her car off the road into the drainage channels. Later on a friend informed me to check at Mulago National Referral Hospital, but by the time I reached there, she had already died and was transferred to Kampala Capital City Mortuary,” Arinaitwe said.

Left alone, Arinaitwe says it’s a burden too big for him to carry alone. He has to juggle between work and family responsibilities, because the children have refused to accept the new house help he employed.

“I don’t know where to start from. Our last born is five months old and cries all the time for the mother. How do I tell her that she will never see the mother again?” he says looking distant.

Arinaitwe is not alone in this. Kampala city faces traffic nightmares in the afternoon hours, stretching down to the evenings up to around 9pm local time when traffic starts easing into the night.

The 2022 annual police traffic and crime report indicates that the hours starting from 3:00pm to 9:00pm in the evening were the riskiest for the road users across the country, where biggest number of road crashes were registered.

“The highest number of crashes were recorded between 1900 and 1959hrs. This could be as a result of the rush hour as road users return home from the day’s activities. The lowest number of crashes was recorded between 0200hrs and 0259hrs mainly due to reduced activity,” the report says.

Deaths on the rise, new road safety report says

Kampala is no stranger to road crashes. The latest annual road safety report for Kampala, revealed a 78% increase in road crash fatalities in the city from 2020.

The report, the city’s second such report shows that the number of reported fatalities in Kampala increased from 236 in 2020 to 419 in 2021, largely attributed to speeding, unsafe overtaking, violating traffic lights, sudden turning, and tailgating, among other factors.

The report, produced with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, highlighted the need for urgent action to address the situation.

Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago described the situation as “appalling and totally unacceptable”

“These report findings should inform continuous interventions to reduce road crash-related deaths and injuries in the city and guide the activities of road safety stakeholders to deliver on their mandates. The goal is to halve road traffic deaths and injuries in Kampala by 2030.” Lukwago said.

According to the World Health Organization, road traffic crashes kill nearly 1.3 million people and injure up to 50 million worldwide. More than 90% of these deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles, and unfortunately, these deaths are preventable.

Lukwago pointed out the need to re-establish the National Road Safety Council as a lead agency in order to secure funding and develop effective strategies to tackle the issue.

The report identified excessive speed as a significant risk factor, with almost half of speeding vehicles in Kampala clocking speeds more than 5 km/h above the posted limit.

The report recommended the adoption of global standards of 30 km/h for local and collector roads, along with stricter enforcement of speed limits.

It also also highlighted low seat-belt usage in the city, with overall seat-belt use at only 41%. Adult passenger seat-belt use was at 19%, while rear-seat passengers’ seat-belt use was at 2%, and child restraint use was almost non-existent at only 1%.

Bonny Balugaba from Makerere University School of Public Health said there is need for increased public awareness campaigns and strict law enforcement to promote seat belt and child restraint use.

“The combination of outcomes data and road user observation data provides a comprehensive understanding of road safety in Kampala, providing an opportunity to implement effective interventions and monitor their impact.” Balugaba said.

The report revealed that the highest number of deaths and serious injuries in 2021 occurred among those aged 20 to 29 years, with almost half of the reported deaths (49.9%) occurring on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

Kampala city is a busy placed on weekends, with many hangout places operating day and night. This possibly points out fact the drink-driving is high on Saturday, Sunday and Monday after heavy drinking night outs from the city hangout places.

Road crash hotspots.

The report identified the highest-risk intersections and fatal corridors in the city, including Kalerwe roundabout (Northern Bypass), Nakulabye intersection (Balintuma and Hoima Road), and Entebbe Road.

These are areas with heavy traffic flows, especially in the evening hours, with very few safe pedestrian crossing points and almost nonexistent walkways. Often where Zebra crossing are available, motorist do not even bother to stop and many times pedestrians have been knocked right at the Zebra Crossings. The same applies to walkways that are taken over motorcycle riders, who are pushed off from their lanes by reckless taxi drivers, who even drive on the pavements and walkways.