Parliamentarians have crucial role to play in improving road safety

As 2017 came to an end, Members of the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety (PAFROS) attended an induction workshop on December 21. The country had just been through a political debate, which perhaps left little room for any other discussion, so I was very proud that members of the Forum, which I chair, woke up early the next day to discuss Uganda’s Road Safety Legislative Action Plan project.
I was proud because while the discussion on road safety may not yet be at the forefront of national discourse, it is no less serious. As legislators, we would be doing the people who elected us a great disservice if we pushed road safety to the bottom of the national agenda and ignored the alarming statistics that we witness and hear about daily.
The fully integrated action plan will be implemented by PAFROS in partnership with Safe Way Right Waya local NGO, with support from the World Bank. Some of the expected outcomes include implementing the National Road Safety Policy and Strategic Plan, concluding the ongoing review of the Traffic and Road Safety Act, improving enforcement of existing laws and regulations, strengthening of the National Road Safety Council as an interim measure and establishment of a National Road Safety Authority. The World Health Organisation’s 2015 Global Road Safety Status Report put annual road traffic fatalities in Uganda at over 10,000. The Health Management Information System Data reveals that road traffic crashes are listed among the top 10 leading causes of hospital deaths in Uganda.
According to the 2010 Road Safety Management Capacity Review, deaths and serious injuries from road crashes accounted for 3 per cent of the burden to the country’s GDP in terms of lost productivity and high medical attention costs. New figures show that this has gone up to 5 per cent of GDP lost annually, estimated at Shs4.3 trillion. It is clear that road safety is a significant and rapidly growing public health and socio-economic burden. Unfortunately, it is also an issue which has not been given sufficient attention and traction.
PAFROS appreciates that behaviour change is an integral part of road safety improvement and as part of our policy agenda, we must work with various stakeholders to improve the attitude of drivers on our roads.
However, as the Legislative Arm of Government, we are aware that Parliamentarians also have the capacity to generate the much needed action. We have the opportunity and responsibility to adopt policy, legislation and budgets which will secure lasting reduction of death and injuries on the road. We can promote accountability of Government and public authorities on their road safety commitments and engage with our communities to help make roads safer for all.
Taking a step in the right direction, Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, reconstituted the Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety on April 26, 2017 for which she is the patron. Whereas a number of actions were undertaken by the forum since its inception in 2014, actions have been infrequent and in some cases not followed to their conclusion. One of the most critical outputs following the establishment of the forum is the development of the Legislative Action Plan, which is based on current legislative gaps and cuts across the five pillars of road safety as recommended under the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. It will address road safety management in a sustainable and institutionalised manner, addressing challenges through debate in parliament and society.
This project is the first of its kind globally and we have an opportunity to lead with innovation. Every second counts! Uganda is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals, which specifically resolved to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020. That’s just three years from now! Urgent action is needed now. The way I see it, we don’t have much of a choice but to have a Parliament, which is committed to ensuring sustained policy actions on road safety, as passionately as we’ve handled other matters.

Mr Ruhunda is the Fort Portal Municipality MP and chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety