UGANDA’S ROAD SAFETY 

LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN 

BACKGROUND 

Road Safety: A Sustainable Development Goal 

Over the last 15 years, road safety has emerged as a significant global public policy issue. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank warning in 2004 that road traffic injuries constitute a major public health and development crisis. 

Although the UN Decade of Action represented long overdue recognition of road safety as a major global issue, it was still left out of the UN’s 2000-2015 Millennium Development Goals. However, in road safety was finally included in the new framework of Sustainable Development Goals with an ambition to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2020. 

The new health target represents the UN’s strongest ever commitment to road injury prevention and is closely aligned with other existing targets, such as those set by the African Union. Now, there is a clear and possible mandate for action by all Member States to reinvigorate their national road safety policies and laws. 

Road safety is specifically included in two goals for health and cities: 

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages 

3.6 By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents 

Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and 

sustainable 

11.2 By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons. 

The new fatality/injury reduction target is significantly stronger than the existing goal of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. This aims just “to stabilize and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities” worldwide by 2020. 

Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development 

In recognition of its scale and ambition, the New Agenda calls for a “revitalized global partnership”, bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society and the UN system. This inclusive approach is specifically encouraged in a global goal focusing on 

implementation with a target to mobilize multi-stakeholder partnerships. 

Overview of Uganda’s situation 

The road sector is the most important mode of transportation in Uganda as it carries 97 percent of freight cargo and 99 percent of the passenger traffic. It is therefore imperative that safety on the roads is improved, as this would greatly reduce the number of fatalities, loss of property and the public health burden associated with traffic injuries. 

The WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety (2015) placed Uganda among the 20 worst performing countries and statistics have remained dismal. The country cannot hope to sustain economic development 

without addressing this significant and growing burden, which requires 

increased attention and traction. 

Top 10 

Road traffic crashes are listed among the top leading causes of hospital deaths in Uganda 

(The Health Management 

Information System Data) 

5% 

Burden to Uganda’s GDP from deaths and serious injuries 

in terms of lost productivity 

and high medical attention costs 

(Road Safety Management 

Capacity Review, 2010) 

4th 

In 2014/15, injuries were the 

fourth leading cause of 

hospital deaths 

50% 

Of these deaths, 

more than half were from the road 

27.4 per 100,000 

The fatality rate from 

road crashes in Uganda 

(WHO Report, 2013 Data) 

THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT 

One of the key actors with the capacity to generate the much needed action is the Legislative Arm of Government, the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda. 

According to The Global Network for Road Safety Legislators, Members of Parliament have the opportunity and responsibility to adopt policy, legislation and budgets that will secure lasting reductions of death and injury on roads and can play a crucial role in advancing road safety in several ways: 

 Help to formulate effective national road safety policies and legislation; 

 Support adequate levels of funding for road injury prevention; 

 Promote accountability of government and public authorities on their road safety commitments; 

 Engage with and represent the community to help make roads safe for all those they were elected to serve. 

Uganda’s Road Safety 

Legislative Action Plan 

Safe Way Right Way is an initiative focused on improving road safety on Uganda’s economically critical highways. The organisation was 

instrumental in the formation of the Parliamentary Forum for Road Safety (PAFROS) and has since developed a “Legislative Action Plan” for the forum. 

The plan was based on a gap analysis of the current Traffic and Road Safety Act, the country profile in the WHO Global Road Safety Status Report 2015, as well as best practice with regards to road design, construction and maintenance. It seeks to address legislative action in policy development, enactment, implementation and evaluation. The Legislative actions are categorised under the UN Decade of Action pillars for road safety. 

The action plan will address road safety management in a sustainable and institutionalised manner addressing challenges through stimulating debate in parliament and society on: 

 The urgent nature of action on road safety 

 Institutional weaknesses with road safety, especially the lack of a lead agency on road safety 

 Lack of requisite funding needed for road safety 

 Awareness generation 

THE LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN 

KEY PROJECT OUTCOMES 

 To enact, implement and enforce policy and legislation which addresses the improvement of the road safety situation in Uganda 

 Parliamentarians to conduct community sensitisation and stakeholder engagements in ten selected districts, guided by information on the most high risk districts and aiming to create road safety awareness and lead policy implementation. 

 Support strengthening of the Safe Way Right Way Secretariat to manage and coordinate the efforts and activities of PAFROS. 

 Act as a catalytic call of action for the establishment of a National Road Safety Authority. 

PROJECT ACTIVITIES 

The activities work plan is based on legislative action and addresses policy development and implementation. 

Activities will include Members of Parliament engaging in road safety advocacy and awareness 

campaigns at national level. 

Partnerships with Government and NGOs will create a platform for successful implementation and continuity of PAFROS activities. 

The action plan will address legislative issues pertaining to institutionalised management of road safety, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road users and post-crash response, setting the stage for a multi sector engagement with the Parliament on the issue of Road Safety. 

PROJECT OUTPUTS 

Advocacy and Stakeholder engagement: 

Raise awareness on the guidelines of the Decade of Action for Road Safety pillars, and advocate for enforcement of existing laws. 

Media Campaign: 

Engage and influence Government, Civil Society, donors and other interest groups through structured messages on varied communication channels. 

Media Training: 

Enhance media knowledge and skills to effectively inform on road safety issues. 

Road Safety Audit of the Tororo-Mbale-Soroti-Lira—Kamdini road corridor: 

Present the highway as a “good practice model”. 

Monitoring and Evaluation: 

Ensure that all project components are properly developed, implemented, and assessed. 

THE ROAD AHEAD 

PHASE ONE: 

DESIRABLE INTERMEDIARY OUTCOMES 

Implementation of the National Road Safety Policy and Strategic Plan 

Revision of the Traffic and Road Safety Act 

Strengthening of the National Road 

Safety Council / Establishment of a 

National Road Safety Authority 

Strengthened enforcement of already 

existing laws and regulations on road 

Safety 

Advocate for external road safety 

audits of national roads 

PHASE TWO: 

DESIRABLE INTERMEDIARY OUTCOMES 

Establishment of a National Road Safety Authority 

Enactment of improved road safety policy, laws and regulations 

Five-year legislative action plan that will support /align with the National Road Safety Authority, National Road safety Strategic Plan and the National Road Safety Policy 

Stringent enforcement of regulations 

for commercial vehicles especially 

passenger service vehicles 

PROJECT RISKS 

The action plan may encounter difficulty in garnering action beyond Parliament and into 

technical governmental departments. It may also find difficulty influencing prioritisation of policy amongst government leadership in respect to 

legislation that may seemingly be at conflict with other policies or stakeholders or groups. 

PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY 

Public policy development, implementation and assessment is an ongoing process and it is hoped that this project will set the tone for the assessment of road safety improvements and continued policy development and implementation which will in turn see the introduction of best practice in Uganda’s road safety framework. Evaluation processes and reports will provide detailed information on wins and challenges which will be used to add value to future legislative action. 

PARLIAMENTARY FORUM ON ROAD SAFETY (PAFROS) 

CONTACT PERSONS 

Hon. Ruhunda Alex Hon. Ayoo Tony 

Mp Fort Portal Municipality Mp Kwania County 

Chairperson –PAFROS Vice Chairperson (PAFROS) 

Tel: +256772704824 Tel: +256782667525 

E-mail: aruhunda@parliament.go.ug Email: tayoo@parliament.go.ug 

Ms Kangume Sheila 

Coordinator PAFROS 

Tel: +256782719811 

Email: kangumesheila@gmail.com 

The Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety (PAFROS) currently has 70 registered Members and was reconstituted in April 2017 by the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament who is the forum’s patron. 

A Road Safety Legislation Action Plan has been developed and will be launched on 5th April 2018. 

What the Forum has done so far: 

1. Recruited 70 Members of Parliament. 

2. Oriented Members of the Parliamentary Forum on Road Safety (PAFROS) 

3. Held sensitization workshops on Road Safety 

4. Held dialogue meetings 

5. Increased political commitment and awareness on Road Safety 

6. Increased public awareness on Road safety