The Wednesday morning news that at least 46 people had been confirmed dead and several others injured following a four-car crash on the Kampala-Gulu Highway left the nation in mourning. The crash at Asili Farm in Kitaleeba Village in Kiryandongo District, according to police’s preliminary report, involved two buses of different transport companies, a lorry truck and a Toyota Surf.
But the tragic accident is a stinging indictment of our failure to enforce basic road safety. The head-on collision between two buses is not an ‘accident’, but rather a predictable result of negligence and unchecked recklessness. For too long, Uganda has quietly accepted a horrific level of road carnage. Year after year, the numbers climb, from 4,534 fatalities in 2022 to more than 5,100 in 2024. The victims are not statistics; they are parents, children, and productive citizens lost to a preventable epidemic.
According to the Uganda Police Force’s most recent annual crime report, a total of 25,107 road traffic crashes were recorded in 2024, reflecting a 6.4 percent increase from 2023. The Wednesday crash, the Force’s initial reports say, was caused by two bus drivers attempting careless overtaking manoeuvres simultaneously. This is not new. Police data confirms that careless overtaking and speeding account for nearly half of all crashes. Our roads are narrow, often poorly marked, and frequently used by heavy-goods vehicles, fast buses, and vulnerable pedestrians.
It is our appeal that we move beyond the cycle of tragedy, momentary outrage, and swift forgetfulness. The President’s pledge of Shs5 million assistance to the bereaved families is appreciated, but the most important assistance the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government can offer is the guarantee of safety on public roads.
To do this, police must enforce the traffic laws, regardless of who is occupying the car or who it belongs to. We suffer from a culture of impunity where a section of road users, especially the ‘connected’ and those driving government cars, flout traffic laws because they are seen as untouchable. All violators of the law should face severe penalties.
The government should ensure all cars are roadworthy. The government must immediately re-establish and enforce a mandatory, rigorous vehicle inspection system to pull cars in dangerous mechanical condition off the roads. Also, transport companies must be held directly responsible for the conduct of their drivers. Any operator whose vehicles are involved in fatal crashes due to reckless driving should face sanctions, including the permanent suspension of their license.
Until the government demonstrates a strong commitment to transforming road discipline, the bodies will continue to pile up. This week’s tragedy should be the final wake-up call.