The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has directed the Minister of Works and Transport to present a statement on road accidents in the country and what the enforcing agencies are doing to curb the carnage.
The call comes after a series of accidents that have claimed more than 100 lives in recent weeks. The latest accident occurred last night when a bus Registration Number UAT 259P which was travelling from Kampala to Gulu rammed into a trailer registration number UAZ 381A/ UBD 318C. The accident claimed 18 lives and left more than 20 people with injuries.
police records show that more than 90 lives were lost during the festive season. 35 of these died in two days between December 31, 2022, and January 1, 2023, while 55 died in 206 crushes that took place during the Christmas week.
Some of the most tragic accidents included one that claimed the Member of Parliament for Serere County, Patrick Okabe and his wife and another which claimed three members of the family of retired Supreme Court Justice Paul Mugamba, among others.
Tayebwa said the responsibility to scrutinize government plans to counter road carnage lies on Parliament. “The minister will be required to present a comprehensive statement that will be subject to a thorough debate. We shall need broad measures taken by the government to address road carnage,” Tayebwa who also lost a family member in a road accident, said.
The Deputy Speaker was concerned that the accident reports in the media are all attributed to reckless driving which he said must be checked. He proposed the need to review the issuance of permits, a process he said has been compromised by those who obtain permits by bribery as opposed to the required proof of training.
Tayebwa added that the state of potholes on roads within Kampala Capital City was deplorable, and requested accountability of the over USD 200 million loans passed in the 10th Parliament to reconstruct 27 roads in the city.
“I have observed a lot of potholes in Kampala, and the solution they are providing is patching them; we passed a loan to reconstruct most of the roads under Kampala Capital City Authority, it is now two years yet I see potholes everywhere,” Tayebwa said.
