Tororo leaders demand expansion of roads to curb road crashes

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Leaders from Tororo district have asked the government to expand the road networks in the area to handle the increasing number of heavy trucks to curb traffic jams and rampant road crashes.

The leaders argue that the district located on the great northern corridor from the coastal port of Mombasa besides hosting three cement factories, attracts heavy trucks daily, causing a lot of inconvenience to other road users.

This was raised during the launch of the road safety campaign under the theme: Safe vehicles for a safer Uganda,’ ahead of the festive season held at Rock Classic Hotel on December 8, 2025.

Tororo Woman Member of Parliament Sarah Achieng Opendi, who represented the works and transport minister Gen. Katumba Wamala at the campaign launch, said the country is experiencing several road crashes as a result of indiscipline by the drivers, recklessness, drink driving, poor road networks, overloading and driving of vehicle in dangerous mechanical conditions.

Tororo Woman Member of Parliament Sarah Achieng Opendi speaking during the launch of the road safety campaign. (Photo by Faustine Odeke)

Opendi appealed to the entire road user to be disciplined and the drivers of huge vehicles to stop undermining those with small cars or motorcycles adding that bodaboda riders should desist from riding on pedestrian lanes.

District chairperson John Okea said with increased traffic, they are thinking of creating bypasses to avoid trucks from parking in town and causing unnecessary jams.

Okea appealed to the Government to expedite the construction of the Standard Gauge railway [SGR] to allow heavy goods travel through the railway in order to avoid crashes caused by the trucks on the roads.

District engineer Andrew Asaya urged the Government to consider constructing a dual carriage road network from Simba cement through Tororo town towards Jinja road to handle the increasing volumes of the trucks.

Apollo Kashanku, the assistant commissioner road transport regulations and safety said they are going to ensure safety during the festive season through mandatory motor vehicle inspections and strict enforcement of the regulations by the police.

He called upon the road users to exercise extra caution while on the roads while appealing to all the bodaboda riders to always put on the helmets and should avoid over speeding and over loading.

He called upon the police to take firm arms in the implementation of the law without any kind of bias and negotiations once any one is found in breach of the regulations.

According to last year’s statistics, there were 25,808 registered road crashes accounting to 5,144 deaths involving 4,211 male and 933 female. The motorists accounted for 1720 crashes while 1,666 were involving the pedestrians.

This according to the ministry officials contributed to the economic burden of estimated 3-5% of the GDP which amounts to sh 8 trillion in terms of loss of lives, loss of livelihood, destruction of property and health burden.