Parliament demands stringent action on errant road users after Kagadi incident

The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has tasked law enforcement bodies to bring errant drivers to book.

Among, made the call in light of an incident in Kagadi district where a 25-year-old Magezi Tuhaise was knocked dead by a government vehicle.

The Speaker who was chairing the plenary sitting reported the incident, which occurred when residents of the district were holding a peaceful demonstration on the poor state of roads, on Tuesday.

“This driver of an LCV vehicle could not afford to respect these people. It is so unfortunate and that kind of impunity should not continue in this country,” Among said.

Janepher Mbabazi, the MP for Kagadi District said the driver of the vehicle has since been arrested and Police is carrying out investigations into the matter.

She also called on the Ministry of Works and Transport, and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to expedite works on the road for which the demonstration was being held.

“This road has been a pertinent issue in Kagadi. The 42km road cuts through many sub-counties in the district but it has never got any attention. After this incident happened, UNRA deployed equipment to work on the road this morning,” Mbabazi said.

The State Minister for Works and Transport, Musa Ecweru, said the Ministry will present a statement on the state of roads in the country after a harmonisation meeting with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance.

“A lot of work has been done by this Parliament to allocate resources for road maintenance but the tragedy is that money is not coming through to the sector for that purpose. That is why we need the Prime Minister to harmonise us then I make a presentation that gives hope to colleagues,” said Ecweru.

Legislators also made a call for a firm stand on all vehicles that have illegal sirens embedded in them.

Dan Atwijukire, Kazo County, MP recounted an incident of bad driving by a road user, which was not addressed even after he reported the matter.

“Every minute you get on the road, you are pushed off by people claiming right of way. A double cabin [vehicle] belonging to Ministry of Science and Technology pushed and scratched my car. I reported this matter to Police and nothing has been done up to now,” Atwijukire said.

Minister Ecweru also committed to give report on categories of persons entitled to right of way in the country.