Finance Ministry releases Shs500m for road safety campaigns
The wreckage of taxi that was involved in an accident recently on Fort Portal road. PHOTO / ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- Micheal Kananura, the spokesperson of the traffic directorate said that from July 23, 2023, to July 29, 2023, the country registered 451 road crashes
The Woman Member of Parliament for Terego District, Ms Rose Obiga has decried the government’s poor funding towards road safety as the number of road crashes continues to increase and claim more lives.
Of the Shs1.25 billion that Parliament approved towards road safety and awareness campaigns for July, August and September of the financial year 2023/2024 to support the sensitisation of road users, the Ministry of Finance only released Shs500 million.
“Hon Matia Kasaija doesn’t understand that Uganda loses 12 people per day due to road crashes. We (Parliament) discussed and approved Shs1.2bn for road safety campaigns for the current quarter but he (Minister of Finance) only released Shs500m. When we ask for more money, he instead wants districts to repair Chinese road safety equipment that cannot be repaired. When does he think the problem of road safety will be resolved?” Ms Obiga wondered.
She made these remarks Thursday during a workshop on the use of road safety risk factor observational data for decision-making at Hotel Africana.
Mr Frederick Oporia, the Trauma, Injuries and Disabilities (TRIAD) head from Makerere University School of Public Health said data is essential in preventing road crashes because if crashes cannot be measured, they cannot be controlled.
“Data is important in driving our decisions because we need to understand why crashes are occurring, where they occur and under what circumstances are they occurring. Only then can we be able to design effective and targeted interventions,” Oporia said.
Micheal Kananura, the spokesperson of the traffic directorate said that from July 23, 2023, to July 29, 2023, the country registered 451 road crashes. Of these, fatal crashes claimed 77 lives while those seriously injured were 338, and minor injuries were 155.
