Why Rwizi tops in road carnage
The wreckage of the vehicles which collided on Mbarara-Bushenyi road in Mbarara District killing three. PHOTOS/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Most accidents in the region happen between Friday and Monday and are mainly because of reckless driving.
The 2024 Annual Crime Report places Rwizi region in first place in road accidents, with 357 road crashes and 445 fatalities. It is followed by the Albertine region with 208 crashes and 378 fatalities. Residents and authorities in the area said the trend is likely to worsen if no urgent attention is given to some of the reasons they suspect are behind the increasing road carnage.
Mr Tom Mwebebezi of the Mbarara Taxi Operators and Drivers Association noted that the poor state of roads in the region is one of the reasons for this. Mr Douglas Asiimwe, a businessman dealing in second-hand clothes and operating in almost all weekly markets in the region, attributed the increasing accidents in the region to corruption Ms Evelyne Namukasa, who works with one of the corporate companies in Mbarara City, noted there is a lot of impunity among the people in the region in regard to respecting the law.
“Someone can decide to park in the middle of the road for 30 minutes and cause a traffic jam in the city, but even police cannot dare to question him, sheer arrogance and intimidation. Here, people do things with impunity and because they are connected to big shots in government”.
Mr Ernest Mukasa, an advocate for safe driving in the Western region, said the public is partly to blame for the increasing cases of road carnage in the region. “You enter a vehicle that is supposed to carry six passengers and has 10, and you also want to fix yourself. The driver seat and his co-driver have four people, and passengers are very comfortable, the mindset of passengers also contributes to increasing cases of road accidents in this region,” he said.
Mr Safari Mugyenyi, the Mayor of Sanga Town Council, attributed the increasing accidents in the region to motorists not understanding the geography of the region. Mr Lawrence Kivumbi, a resident of Nyamunuka Town Council in Ntungamo District, said he recently lost two of his family members in an accident on the Ntungamo–Ishaka road, and observed a lack of road signs as another contributing factor.
Early this month, the traffic directorate of traffic police, led by the Acting Deputy Director of Traffic and Road Safety, Mr Norman Musinga, were in the region to draw strategies with stakeholders in the transport sector on how to reduce road carnage in the region.
During some of the stakeholders' engagements in Mbarara City, Mr Musinga noted that most accidents in the region happen between Friday and Monday and are mainly because of reckless driving. “Most accidents happen from Friday to Monday because many people are busy with parties over weekends, some are at their leisure over the weekend, they drive while drunk, and Monday is when everyone is rushing to their workplaces”, he noted.
