In brief
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Report shows that road users are not satisfied with most roads that are being constructed as they do not provide enough space for pedestrians.
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The report points out the most road networks lack pedestrian walkways The police’s five-year
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Road Traffic Incidents (RTIs) report for 2011 to 2015 says 29 people in every 100,000 died on Ugandan roads, which ranks Uganda among the top countries with highest RTIs in Africa.
Uganda roads are among the most dangerous in Africa road users especially pedestrians, a survey by the country’s Ministry of Works and Transport has revealed.
Speaking during the launch of the report dabbed Road User Satisfaction Survey in Kampala last week Uganda minister of Works Monica Azuba Ntege said that road users are not satisfied with most roads that are being constructed as they do not provide enough space for pedestrians.
Ntege said that most road networks lack pedestrian walkways except roads under Kampala Capital City Authority which has designated pedestrian walkways on most sections of its road network. The report says the neglect of this category of road users should be addressed.
Infact one of Uganda’s law maker Mr Francis Gonahasa while addressing the same event, claimed the major cause of accidents is the design of the Ugandan roads which he said should be reviewed.
“Most of the accidents on our roads, especially on Masaka road, are head-on collision. This means there is a problem with the design of these roads; what if we demarcated the cars coming from Masaka and separate them with a barricade in the middle; would these accidents still occur?” he asked.
However, the Uganda National Roads Authority’s head of design, Mr Patrick Muleme, said there are more causes of road accidents than having wider or dual carriage roads.
“Ugandan drivers lack driver-knowledge; they don’t know road signs and want to drive fast. These are the main causes of road accidents, especially on the Kampala-Masaka highway,” said Mr Muleme.
Mr Muleme said government is seeking funds to widen the Kampala-Mpigi highway to four lanes.
By June last year, at least 200 people had been killed in road accidents, according to the report, and nearly twice that number has been injured on Kampala-Masaka highway in the last six months.
The police’s five-year Road Traffic Incidents (RTIs) report for 2011 to 2015 says 29 people in every 100,000 died on Ugandan roads, which ranks Uganda among the top countries with highest RTIs in Africa.
The survey was conducted between 2012 and 2015. A subsequent survey by the Uganda Road Fund on road user satisfaction in 2016 revealed the same results.