The Ministry of Works and Transport is seeking for Shs600Bn to reduce road carnage in Uganda within the next five years.
The revelation was made by Fred Byamukama (pictured), State Minister for Transport while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure who had been summoned to explain steps government is taking to reduce on road carnage that claimed lives of Uganda and many others fighting for their lives in hospitals.
The Minister cited a study by World Health Organisation on road traffic deaths and injuries in low and middle-income countries, where Uganda is estimated to cause economic losses of up to 5% of GDP which is equivalent to Shs147.962Trn for 2020/2021, further estimating the loss to the economy translates to a maximum of Shs7.398Trn.
He said that the loss is manifested in form of premature loss of lives, reduced quality of life for those injured either temporarily or permanently. Loss of income and output either permanently or through death. The country cannot afford to lose such amounts year in year out, if we can act.
“I am aware of the so many competing demands for funding particularly in the road subsector especially for paving of the road network. There is however a growing need for appropriation of more resources on road safety by parliament. Currently, approximately Shs600m is appropriated for road safety activities. Whenever there are budget cuts, some of this allocation which is not spent on infrastructure is reduced since it is considered as consumptive expenditure,” said Byamukama.
The development comes at the time the Annual Police Crime Report 2021 highlighted a growth in the number of crashes by 42% from 12,249 in 2020 to 17,443 and of these, 3,757 were fatal and 4616 were minor.
In the February 2018 report by United Nations Road Safety Performance Review, conducted by the United Nations Economic Commissions for Europe (UNECE) and Africa (ECA), it was revealed that the number of road traffic fatalities reported in Uganda had increased seven-fold over the past 25 years with 10 people dying every day due to road traffic injuries.
The report put Uganda’s accident severity index at 24 people killed per 100 road crashes and further highlighted that the overall annual cost of road crashes is currently estimated at approximately Shs4.4Trn equivalent to 5% of Uganda’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The United Nations however noted that the magnitude of the road safety challenge is serious and has unfortunately failed to attract the necessary attention for appropriate interventions and warned that unless effective interventions are implemented, road crashes are likely to increase and even double within the next ten years.
The Committee has also summoned Uganda Traffic Police to appear tomorrow, after MPs decried the high corruption allegations labeled against the Force with claims of soliciting bribes against traffic offenders featuring top on the agenda.
