Charlotte Kangume, 28, vividly remembers the night of January 26, 2018 like it happened yesterday.
She was involved in a road accident when she was coming from a graduation party to drop a friend to her house.
"I was intoxicated that night. Our car got stuck in a trench and I came out and stood on the side of the road. A friend who had been at the party with us came and tried to help us. He was drunk so when they pushed the vehicle, it veered to the side where I was standing. My [drunk] friend was at the wheel. I blame my accident on alcohol and also I advise the government to do enough to improve the state of our roads," Kangume recounted.
Kangume was rushed to the hospital in a terrible condition, a situation that she never wishes to see any Ugandan get into.
Kangume said she was shocked when the doctor told her that she was going to be amputated.
It was one of the painful moments in her life and her family and they were against the medical advice.
In order to save Kangume's life, she had to lose her left leg because that was the only solution according to her doctors.
"My first artificial leg cost me Shs 16 million and I raised it [money] for two years from friends, family and then the socket got broken. I had to go to Mulago hospital and get another socket," she said.
Since then, things have never been easy for Kangume's family because the situation sometimes puts them on tension, thinking that perhaps she might commit suicide due to difficulties she faces in carrying out day to day activities
"I got an emotional trauma, one moment, I can wake up when I don’t want to see anyone, so I just lock myself in the room and that affects not only me but also my family," she said.
"There are certain things that I can no longer do like the way I used to do them."
Like other persons with disabilities, Kangume faces difficulties ranging from access to basic items from down town Kampala, stigmatisation from the members of the public, access to transport means, cost of treatment and challenges of getting a job.
"One of my friends went to board a taxi and she was told by the driver ‘we don’t carry lame people like you’. You can imagine how painful the statement was, and yet this is the only transport mean you can afford. Why do we have to use stigmatising words?" she queried.
As festive season draws near, she advised young people never to drive a car under the influence of alcohol because any slight mistake will lead to death or loss of a body part.
“We really need people to take care of their themselves and their neighbours. We need to be strict with our lives and other people lives. Don’t drink and drive, ”she said.
Kangume is the founder of Amputee Self-Help Network Uganda, a non-profit organisation that helps people in her situation.
Through her organisation, Kangume hopes to help road crash victims to cope up with the aftermath of road crashes by giving these amputees psychosocial rehabilitation.
“We realised that in our hospitals out there, they treat and send you back home but they don’t prepare you for what kind of life you are going to live, what to expect and what to do, how to survive,"she stated.
Together with friends, she also started the prosthetic accessibility funds which is meant to help amputees who cannot afford artificial limbs.
"We would love to be supported, we would really want the government to help us get complements from donors outside Uganda and they should be tax free," she said.
Police reports from 2018 to 2020 indicates that 3,744 people died in vehicle crashes within that period.
Everyday, 10 people, on average ,die in road crashes in Uganda, which is the highest in East Africa, according to police and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s Road Safety Performance Review report for Uganda.
Whereas those involved in the road accidents are usually young people whose lives and dreams are suddenly cut short, thousands including Kangume are left with life-changing injuries, pain, regrets and some become destitute.
Haninngton Kiwanuka, the chairperson Uganda Bus Drivers revealed that even with an increase in road crashes, most Uganda remain ignorant on traffic rules.
"95% of drivers do not pass through a driving schools that is why you see the road carnage because people drive space, they don’t drive according to the laws which is very unfortunate, so most road users are still ignorant about road traffic rules, ”he said.
Sam Bambanza, the executive director of Hope for Victims of Traffic Accidents (HOVITA) said there is need for the translation of road safety messages into local languages so that all people are able to understand them.
"We need to have round year campaign on road safety rules and regulations, not this one off campaign. We should involve in passengers. We can even sensitise them in taxi terminals. We can do sensitisation around the road check points, intensifying enforcement and awareness," Bambanza said.
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, said there is a concerted effort to reduce the number of road crash victims in the country by 2030.
He stated that if the enforcement agencies get stricter, and the public follows road traffic rules and regulations, the targets will be met much earlier.
"Let’s us aim to lower the number before 2030.This is 2021, our target should be 2025, we should have the numbers [of road fatalities] reduced. I hope next year we won’t be talking of big numbers. Let us aim at 2025," said Katumba.
Dr. Olive Kobusingye, senior research fellow, trauma, injury and disability at Makerere University School of Public Health,noted that the issues regarding road carnage come from the culture of not taking care of all road users because more priorities are given to the motorists.
"The all planning exercise need to be around how we protect all road users. Some countries run campaigns so that the road users are educated about the road traffic rules. Recently Kampala Capital City Authority came up with road safety strategies, they promised many things in that strategy. We have to use many different interventions," she said.
