Police officers have been trained on road safety and victim compensation to effectively respond to the needs of road crash victims.

The training which attracted over 70 officers, was sponsored by Uganda Insurers Association (UIA). It was conducted at Golf course hotel in Kampala.

Paul Kavuma, the UIA Chief Executive Officer while opening the four-day workshop, explained that the training is part of their mandate as an association to champion road safety.

He explained that their mandate is to work with police, more especially the community liaison and traffic officers, because they are the first responders on accident scenes.

“If we can equip them with skills and tools to facilitate accident victims, then we are sure to have a much better smooth process in terms of documentation and details of an accident even for the victim claims,” he said.

He added, "There are about 23000 accident victims eligible for compensation every year, we want to see this number reduced through this training."

Sam Bambanza, the Executive Director Hope for Victims of Traffic Accident (HOVITA) expressed the need to strengthen the victims by knowing their rights and how they can be assisted at the police level.

“We have realized that there are several road-based accidents that do not go to courts of law because they are poorly investigated, so we want to ensure the community liaison and traffic officers are aware when it comes to assisting road accident victims,” he said.
 
Aisha Kayongo, a police trainer said it was important to train officers so that they know their roles and functions.

"If an accident happens, it will be the traffic officers to be at the scene while liaison officers go to the communities and carry out the investigation," she said.