Would prioritizing tomorrow’s plans make our roads any safer?

This week the Minister of Works and Transport reported that at least 83 people have perished in road accidents in the last eight days. By the time you read this, the count will be clocking 14 days.

It is said that we have some of the deadliest roads in the world so that should explain why.

The reasons are innumerable - depending on who you talk to. From bad roads to bad drivers, bad cars, bad cops, bad riders, bad passengers, bad speed, bad weather, bad bosses, bad health, bad thinking abilities, bad alcohol, bad jinis, bad God, and everything between that.

You must have encountered any or several of these at some point. The festive season is when the grim reaper hits peak because we have three times the number of cars on especially the highways, so the probability of injury, death and all these bad things come together. So it can be expected - sadly - that the next presser will have even higher numbers if we don’t do a job for ourselves.

I would love to say how great it is that this is not a problem that those who stay in Kampala are likely to face - at least not to the magnitude of the past - but I would be lying. The rationale is that Kampala roads won’t allow for many people to speed or sleep off. Hard to lose focus if you’re going through a potato garden.

You wouldn’t tell, based on many matrices, that this is a country invested in the quality of life of its citizens. What are these Kampala roads for example?. Embarrassing. The rains aren’t helping with the optics either.

Granted, many are past their lifespan, and the city authority says they are going to sort the mess. We must believe them because how much worse could they let this abhorrent spectacle go on for? The problem is the timelines. It took ages to complete the one kilometer stretch that’s John Babiiha Avenue (Acacia), so imagine how long it will take to get done with every other inch of the city that is in disrepair.

The next couple of years are going to be long and exasperating if you are a road user in Kampala. In that regard, it is not easy to say whether these gullies offer any respite for road users. Meaning that those who choose to stay in Kampala will also be wise to take the same precautions as those who are traveling upcountry.

That said, looking at all the bad things on which road accidents are blamed also makes you wonder if we are capable of any self-regulation and self-leadership. And if we are incapable of them in matters of life and death, how can we extend them to other spheres of our lives that require discipline?

Even if we left the bad roads out because the government bears the burden of that lethargy; and added bad cops to it because they are corrupt or incapacitated by systemic breakdown. We might also add bad weather which is an act of God. How about the rest?

From every quarter, you will have heard takes on what we all need to do to make sure that our roads are safer for everyone so there is no need to go over those again. One other take that I would like to add is the value of life. Basically, what is the cost of losing you - to your family, your dependants and friends, to your networks and country - and how much is invested in protecting that life.

It is hard to tell what the value of a Ugandan life is but you can guess that it isn’t that much especially if you look at how little the government invests in preventing fatalities - from education to health to food, transportation, housing, water, security, incomes, etc. The picture gets even grimmer when you extrapolate this to how much individuals invest in the preservation of their and others’ lives.

Your average Ugandan road user goes about their business like they don’t have plans or responsibilities for the next day; and even if they did, those plans are the kinds that can be missed and life will go on. Perhaps many of us don’t but how about the other road users who have people counting on them to get home or to work alive? Could we think about those at the very least?

Mr Rukwengye is the founder, Boundless Minds.

@Rukwengye