The Minister of State for Works and Transport, Francis Musa Ecweru, has flagged off a three-day “Road Safety Campaign“ aimed at raising awareness against road accidents.
The flag off took place on Tuesday at the Ministry of Works and Transport headquarters.
Themed, “Together for Boda-Boda Safety", the campaign which officially begins today will run until December 9, 2022.
The launch started with a procession from the works ministry headquarters to Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) grounds in Kyambogo.
The launch comes at a backdrop of increased road accidents in the country that have claimed many lives. Most of these accidents have been blamed on boda bodas.
Last month, Police said that a total 1,021 boda boda riders had been killed in accidents on Ugandan roads in just nine months between January and September 2022.
In the same period, 401 passengers were killed in these boda boda accidents.
Most of these accident cases have been blamed on reckless movements on roads by the boda boda riders, as well as flouting of road rules.
Last month, traffic police spokesperson Faridah Nampiima, said they had launched operations targeting errant boda boda riders, and warned that these operations would continue until the boda bodas improve discipline on the roads.
“The operations will continue until we realise the discipline on the road by boda bodas has improved. We shall continue targeting those without reflector jackets and crash helmets,” Nampiima said in November.