Uganda Loses Over Shs7 Trillion Annually to Road Crashes, Safety Advocates Warn

Uganda faces a staggering annual loss exceeding Shs7 trillion due to road crashes, driven by lax enforcement of traffic laws, rampant reckless driving, and inadequate regulation, according to road safety advocates. They are calling for comprehensive reforms within the nation's transport sector, emphasizing that the recent Kapchorwa school bus tragedy, which claimed the lives of 20 pupils and one adult, should serve as a critical turning point for the government to bolster road safety measures.

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Most of these crashes are preventable.

Timothy Chemonges, Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis and a board member of the Road Safety Coalition Uganda, cited World Health Organization data indicating that Uganda loses approximately five percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually to road traffic accidents. These losses, estimated at over Shs7 trillion, encompass medical expenses, emergency response costs, and significant reductions in productivity.

Chemonges highlighted that Uganda allocates over Shs300 billion each year solely to treating victims of road crashes, stressing that the majority of these incidents are preventable. He identified speeding, driver fatigue, distracted driving, and poor vehicle maintenance as primary causes, advocating for stricter law enforcement and sustained public awareness campaigns. "The ultimate solution is behaviour change. The public must be part of holding drivers and vehicle owners accountable," he told Nile Post.

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The ultimate solution is behaviour change. The public must be part of holding drivers and vehicle owners accountable.

The Chairperson of the Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda (ROSACCO), Tumwine Nkutuho, stated that road crashes result in an average of 15 deaths daily, totaling nearly 6,000 fatalities annually. He suggested the actual toll might be higher due to unrecorded deaths. Nkutuho urged the government to treat road crashes as a national public health emergency and strengthen the implementation of existing safety measures, noting significant gaps in current management systems.

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There are gaps in the implementation of road safety management. Something can be done, and something must be done to reduce the damage and loss of lives.

Meanwhile, the Foundation for Private Sector Drivers Initiative Uganda raised concerns about the driver involved in the Kapchorwa school bus crash. Its Executive Director, Jamiru Semakula, claimed the driver was hired temporarily and may not have been familiar with the vehicle, suggesting this could have contributed to the accident. Authorities have yet to comment on these claims.

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We have information that the driver of yesterday's accident was hired from the street. He was hired to drive a school bus.