By Spy Uganda
Residents of Ndibulungi Trading Centre in Luwero District on Friday staged a protest and temporarily blocked the busy Kampala–Gulu Highway, demanding urgent government intervention to curb rising road accidents that have claimed several lives in the area.
The demonstration followed a recent fatal crash in which four residents of Ndibulungi were killed in a suspected hit-and-run incident involving a motorcycle. The victims were identified as Peter Mugume, Lawrence Bukaaga, Geoffrey Ssekibeyu and Frank Chaha.
According to residents, the stretch of road between Luwero and Nakasongola District has become increasingly dangerous, with frequent accidents blamed on speeding vehicles and the narrow design of the highway.
Ndibulungi, one of the fastest-growing trading centres in the district, has experienced a surge in traffic in recent years following the establishment of several industries, including PRO Industries Pte Limited, which produces ethanol and extra-neutral alcohol, and Victoria Sugar Limited. The industrial activity has significantly increased the movement of heavy trucks transporting raw materials and finished products.
Frustrated by the continued loss of lives, residents on Friday evening placed logs across the highway, bringing traffic to a standstill in both directions. The protesters demanded that the Ministry of Works and Transport (Uganda) install speed humps in the trading centre to slow down vehicles passing through the area.
The protest was led by Isma Majanja, chairperson of the Ndibulungi Boda Boda Stage, who said overspeeding remains the leading cause of accidents in the trading centre.
“We have lost many people on this road. Vehicles pass through the trading centre at very high speeds because there are no traffic-calming measures,” Majanja said.
John Wasswa, the LC1 chairman of Ndibulungi village, said residents had previously petitioned district authorities for intervention but received no response, prompting them to take matters into their own hands.
Police officers from the Savannah Regional Traffic Unit later arrived at the scene, but the demonstrators had already dispersed fearing arrest.
Traffic police in the region attributed the recurring crashes to reckless driving and the narrow nature of the highway, which passes through busy trading centres.
The demand for speed humps along the Kampala–Gulu highway dates back to the road’s reconstruction in 2015, when the Uganda National Roads Authority removed several humps to improve traffic flow.
Since then, local leaders and religious figures have repeatedly petitioned the government to reinstate the humps in populated areas. However, authorities have resisted the move, arguing that speed humps slow down traffic and damage trucks transporting goods.
In 2013, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni directed the Works ministry to remove humps from major highways, describing them as an inconvenience to road users.
Uganda continues to face a growing road safety crisis. According to the latest report from the Uganda Police Force, at least 5,144 people died in road crashes in 2024, an average of 14 deaths every day, underscoring the urgency of improving safety measures on major highways passing through populated areas.
