Owners of Kampala city buildings warned against blocking walkways

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) has warned owners of buildings in the City against blocking walkways.

Winston Katushabe, Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Road Safety, said many buildings mostly in Kampala and its neighbourhoods have encroached on walkways leaving pedestrians exposed to vehicles.

Katushabe said the Ministry intends to collaborate with National Building Review Board to conduct building audits in respect to the construction plans that were issued to owners by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

He said some building owners have gone ahead and installed pedestrians blockades which has increased congestion and number of road fatalities involving pedestrians.

Katushabe was meeting road safety experts and activists from Uganda Road Accident Reduction Organization (URRENO), Hope for Victims of Traffic Accident (HOVITA) and Legacy Road Safety Initiative (LRSI) on the Global NGO Road Safety Alliance’s #CommitToAct Mobility Snapshot Campaign intended to advocate for pedestrians’ safety in urban areas.

According to Global NGO Road Safety Alliance, several pedestrians are killed every day because simple protection measures have not been put in place especially at busy intersections. These measures include humps that calm speed, raising pedestrian crossing points, built and protected roadside walkways and visible zebra crossings.

In Uganda, the number of pedestrians killed every year has been on increase. For instance, the traffic police statistics for 2023 show 1,675 pedestrians were killed in road crashes which translates to nearly five deaths every day.

“We need to talk openly about pedestrian safety. We have engaged KCCA on buildings and other infrastructure. We don’t expect the jam in Kampala to be very much, we need to do proper auditing of these buildings,” Katushabe said.

URRENO’s Logistics Officer Edmond Atwine and HOVITA’s Programs Officer, Jackson Musoga, said the Campaign is also intended to engage UNRA and KCCA officials for a period of three months on simple things they can do to protect pedestrians.

Eng Norman Byamukama, UNRA’s road safety specialist stated that newly constructed national roads will have major rehabilitation to consider integrating new designs that favor all road users hence targeting safety for all.

“The lighting of these roads is one of the other issues that’s being emphasized to ensure a smart city and provide visibility for these road users. We have noticed that due to poor supervision after roads are constructed, the humps and rumble strips that are installed after are not uniform and its why some are raised and others low which can cause road crashes rather than reducing them,” Eng Byamukama said.

Musoga and Atwine added some road intersection such as Kabalagala and at Mapeera buildings have more than 3,000 people crossing from one point to another in an hour mostly early morning and evening time. “If you have such big numbers of pedestrians crossing such busy and risky intersections, you need to have all possible and affordable measures to protect them. But many of these busy and risky junctions do not have speed calming measures,” Musoga said.

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