Expand Jinja Road or else we will bury many more

Sam Mutabazi

Another accident on Jinja Road has claimed the lives of nine people including an entire family at Najjembe in Mabira forest over the weekend. Jinja road has become a death trap. Nobody is safe on this road.

The second killer road in Uganda is Kampala-Masaka. Many people have lost their lives on the road over the years. Others have been maimed. Police records indicate that an average of five people die on Jinja road every week. This translates to about 260 people every year.

Currently, Police statistics indicate that 2,500 people die in road accidents in Uganda annually. Uganda has the third-highest road carnage in Africa with Ethiopia leading. This calls for fast measures to address this problem.

Narrow road

The ministry of works and transport has continued to design and construct narrow roads well aware they are the major causes of accidents.

They claim they cannot build wide roads because they do not have enough resources. This is a lame excuse. Even where they have resources, the roads constructed are in most cases not commensurate with the end product. A case in point is the 21km Northern Bypass which was constructed at $120m with less than 5km dual road carriage.

Jinja road is the second busiest after Entebbe with approximately 80,000 vehicles on it daily. The road constructed before independence has been maintained as a two lane road in spite of the increasing traffic. Given the magnitude of the traffic this road handles, it is supposed to at least have four lanes moving in opposite directions.

Dual carriage

Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has, for three years now, been promising to make the road a dual carriage-way but it is taking forever.

It is estimated that making Jinja Road a dual carriage highway can reduce fatal accidents by over 90%. This is because the dual carriage with a wide middle island would ensure there is reduced or minimum contact between vehicles travelling in opposite direction.

Dual carriage would make head-on collisions almost unlikely. Narrow, single lane roads on busy roads are outdated because they are not only expensive to maintain (because of high wear and tear) but more importantly, because they are more accident prone.

Although UNRA indicated that works on expanding Jinja Road are supposed to start this financial year, there is no indication to that effect. How many people must first die on that road for UNRA to wake up?

UNRA should prioritise the widening of Jinja Road. The excuse of not having resources should not arise given the magnitude of the problem. UNRA can easily mobilise resources to dual the road if they explain the seriousness it deserves to stakeholders.

The Government and development partners should help UNRA to mobilise funds to widen Jinja Road that leaves families and parents in tears almost on a daily basis.

Compensating bereaved families

UNRA should also begin compensating families of those who lose their lives on its roads. Uganda Road Sector Support Initiative (URSSI) will begin to liaise with families of victims with a view to helping them get justice.

UNRA should apologise to the family of Daniel Mirembe and others who lost their lives in the Saturday accident and assure Ugandans that every measure is being put in place to ensure that their lives are safe. It is the cardinal role of UNRA to design and build safe roads.

When people continue to die on poorly designed roads, UNRA should not only apologise but should actually compensate the victims’ families. This is required of a professional Government agency.

If UNRA continues to give the excuse that it doesn’t have resources to widen the roads, it should be ready to compensate the people who die on all its narrow and winding roads.

The author is a Director Uganda Road Sector Support Initiative (URSSI)