In Uganda, the road has become a place of peril, not of passage. With an alarming surge in traffic accidents, pedestrians— often the most vulnerable road users—are paying the ultimate price.
The country is facing a road safety crisis that cuts across class, profession, and location, sparing no one: drivers, passengers, cyclists, and especially those on foot. According to Uganda Police Force statistics, an average of 13 pedestrians die every day in road crashes.
In total, over 1,675 pedestrians lost their lives in 2023 alone. That figure, already staggering, has grown even higher in 2024. Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, has become ground zero for the nation’s traffic woes. Here, the chaos is as common as the morning sun.
Whether you’re walking to work, crossing at an intersection, or simply navigating a roadside, your safety is never guaranteed. The city is riddled with poorly managed roads, illegal roadside parking, chaotic taxi stages, and dangerously mixed traffic involving pedestrians, cars and motorcycles.
Nowhere is this clearer than on Lumumba Avenue near the Insurance Regulatory Authority building or along the stretch of Jinja road by Nakawa market. Even short distances—like 700 meters along Jinja road in the evening—can take up to 20 minutes due to congestion worsened by illegally parked vehicles.
These traffic jams aren’t just inconveniences; they create bottlenecks that endanger lives and fuel road rage.
“I spend nearly an hour just to reach Kireka from the city center, and half of that time is caused by taxis parked along the road or random roadblocks,” says Ronald Mugisha, a city commuter. “You have drivers mentally and physically exhausted, and it doesn’t take much for tempers to flare. That’s how accidents happen.”
A SYSTEM THAT IGNORES ITS OWN LAWS
The current state of Uganda’s roads isn’t just a failure of infrastructure—it’s a failure of enforcement. Despite the Road Act of 2019, which outlines strict rules against illegal parking and mandates removal of abandoned vehicles, enforcement is weak.
Under Section 58(7) of the Act, any vehicle left unattended on a public road for more than two hours without prior notification should be deemed abandoned. Even more, Section 58(11) prohibits parking or driving on pedestrian walkways, with violations punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Yet, in practice, taxis and private vehicles park with impunity for hours—sometimes the entire day. Not only do these parked cars narrow the roads and worsen congestion, they also push pedestrians into the streets, right into the path of oncoming traffic.
The 2023 Police Annual Crime Report attributed 37% of road traffic deaths to pedestrians. The 2024 update reinforces this concern: pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists account for 84% of all road fatalities. Of those, 34% are pedestrians, with 734 people knocked down while crossing, and 560 killed simply while walking along the road.
“These deaths aren’t random accidents,” says Joseph Beyanga, a road safety advocate. “They are the result of poor planning and failure to enforce basic laws. If pedestrians, cars and boda bodas are all fighting for space, someone will lose—and too often it’s the person on foot.”
Beyanga also pointed to Uganda’s lack of dedicated bus lanes or pedestrian walkways as a core issue. “When the government introduced public buses, the plan failed— not because people didn’t want them, but because there was no infrastructure to support them.”
According to him, the solution lies in mass public transport.
“One bus takes 72 people—that’s 72 motorcycles or cars off the road. If people had reliable alternatives, we wouldn’t need all these taxis parking on streets and causing congestion.”
WHAT ABOUT THE AUTHORITIES?
The traffic police, always visibly stationed near busy intersections, claim that managing parking isn’t their job. SP Michael Kananura, from the directorate of Road and Safety, stated: “Parking on the streets is not our docket. That falls under the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). We only enforce laws when necessary.”
But critics argue that enforcement begins with presence. If officers are stationed at choke points where illegal parking occurs daily, why is it allowed to continue? The KCCA, responsible for city planning, admits the issue. Spokesperson Daniel NuweAbine confirmed that they have not yet gazetted taxi and boda boda stages but are working on it.
“We are issuing fines to those we catch parking illegally, and we’re working closely with the traffic police. If you compare traffic today to six months ago, there’s a significant improvement,” said NuweAbine. Still, NuweAbine acknowledged that illegal parking remains a persistent problem, and said the city is still developing a comprehensive solution.
Adding another layer to the problem are the “stage chairpersons”, self-appointed leaders who manage unofficial taxi and boda stages. These individuals often claim their spots are recognized by police and local leaders, and they impose fines on any driver who tries to operate near their stage without permission—creating yet another barrier to regulating city traffic.
“We know ourselves here,” said one chairperson in Nakawa, who asked not to be named. “If someone else parks at our stage, we fine them—10,000 to 50,000 shillings. Even the OC [Officer in Charge] knows we’re here legally.”
These “local arrangements” make regulation difficult. As long as these de facto stage operators are allowed to control parts of the road, formal systems have little chance of working. Every statistic is a grieving family, a lost child, a parent who never returned home. Behind the rising numbers are real lives cut short.
“Every time I hear of a pedestrian hit on Jinja road, I hold my breath,” says Ruth Nalubega, who lost her brother in a road accident last year.
“He was just walking home. Nothing more. But someone had parked a car in the pedestrian lane; so, he had to step onto the road. That was the end.”
This is the reality for too many Ugandans. Until the responsible authorities—KCCA, traffic police, and city planners—stop pointing fingers and start implementing coordinated, enforceable solutions, the daily death toll will continue. The evidence is clear. Poor planning, weak enforcement, illegal parking and lack of pedestrian infrastructure are all contributing to a deadly crisis on Uganda’s roads.
If the government wants to save lives, it must:
• Enforce the Road Act 2019 without exception.
• Invest in dedicated pedestrian walkways and bus lanes.
• Establish mass public transport systems.
• Crack down on illegal “stage” operations.
• Coordinate between KCCA and traffic police to ensure unified action.
Until then, 13 pedestrians will continue to die each day, lost not to bad luck, but to bad leadership.
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