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Ronald Amanyire

@amronaldo6,254 subscribers

Principal Road Safety Officer, MoWT. All opinions are mine not MOWT If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, leave at peace with everyone. Rom. 12:18

Shorts

May this young man's Soul Rest in Peace. The carnage continues due to unprecedented levels of greed, dereliction of duty, and lack of accountability. The funds are actually there and have been provided over the past decade. The Ministry of Finance Ministry of Finance has released about UGX 100 Billion since 2019 for a Department of Government whose main responsibility and objective should be prevention of road crashes. These funds have been spent on activities with very minimal impact on road safety. This information has been shared with IGG, Office of the Auditor General Uganda, Criminal Investigations Directorate-UPF. How do you explained the death of a young man in a fatal road crash that caused the incineration of the vehicle which he was driving? He must have been driving in one of the best motor vehicles in this country given the wealth of his family. He was driving a motor vehicle which probably had good safety features on a smooth road without pot holes. It is easy to draw conclusions like he was speeding, he was fatigued, he lost control of his motor vehicle, he made errors, e.t.c. Whereas all that may be true, did he deserve to die in such a gruesome way for those errors in judgement? The answer is a BIG NO. The truth is government failed him in so many ways. At the center of modern day road safety management is recognition that errors made by road users (drivers, motorcyclists, cyclist and pedestrians) MUST NOT lead to their demise. Here is a situation he found himself in: Concrete Barriers on a road that encourages high speed. Who has the onus to remove this hazard? Government. I could have perished in the same circumstances a few years back before the completion of the KEE on the way to the Airport. It was a rainy early morning at about 5:00am and I drove through barriers which were made of plastic. So why were these not made of plastic? Was there a provision for lighting on that section? If not, it should have been there. This is what we mean when we say roads should be forgiving. Apart from their design, road sides are the major reference here. The road should have forgiven him for this error if it had plastic reflective barriers. These kind of barriers would have caught his attention and he would have stopped his car instead of killing him. Were the traffic lights functional? Why was there no hazard signage or warning of any sort since there were barriers in middle of the road? This section of the road is built as an expressway and as such encourages speeding especially at any time beyond midnight. There are no traffic calming measures in place yet it is freely used by pedestrians and Boda-Bodaz like any other city road. Roads are supposed to be designed and constructed bearing in mind the activities that take place around them (Land Use). Interventions to control speed must be implemented if there is a high volume of different road users. They would have got his attention and he would not have died. A glaring example of contractors that do not care about road safety is on the section of Kampala-Masaka in the swampy section of Lwera. The Concrete Barriers are there and in places where they are not, there is nothing preventing a motor vehicle falling off into the swamp. Not even a rope. UNTIL THE DAY WHEN THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COUNTRY ACCEPTS THAT ROAD CRASHES ARE PREVENTABLE AND PARLIAMENT STARTS DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILTY ON ROAD SAFETY, THIS CARNAGE WILL CONTINUE. ACCEPTING THERE IS A PROBLEM IS THE FIRST STEP TO SOLVING IT OR MANAGING IT. TOMORROW IT MIGHT BE ME OR YOU. LETS STOP PAYING LIP SERVICE TO UGANDANS ESPECIALLY ALL THOSE FAMILIES THAT LOSE LOVED ONES IN THIS MESS OF GREED AND LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY. Uganda Police Force Parliament of Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Road And Water Safety Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda 🇺🇬 Road Sense Kenya - RSK Brian 4RoadSafety roadsafetypros Road Safety Awareness Initiative (Kenya) Road Safety Alliance UN Road Safety Anita Annet Among Safe Transport and Survivors Support Uganda Legacy Road Safety Initiative (LRSI) Uganda Professional Drivers' Network Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo CISCOT Civil Society Coalition On Transport UG Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area - UDP Office of the Prime Minister - Uganda

May this young man's Soul Rest in Peace. The carnage continues due to unprecedented levels of greed, dereliction of duty, and lack of accountability. The funds are actually there and have been provided over the past decade. The Ministry of Finance Ministry of Finance has released about UGX 100 Billion since 2019 for a Department of Government whose main responsibility and objective should be prevention of road crashes. These funds have been spent on activities with very minimal impact on road safety. This information has been shared with IGG, Office of the Auditor General Uganda, Criminal Investigations Directorate-UPF. How do you explained the death of a young man in a fatal road crash that caused the incineration of the vehicle which he was driving? He must have been driving in one of the best motor vehicles in this country given the wealth of his family. He was driving a motor vehicle which probably had good safety features on a smooth road without pot holes. It is easy to draw conclusions like he was speeding, he was fatigued, he lost control of his motor vehicle, he made errors, e.t.c. Whereas all that may be true, did he deserve to die in such a gruesome way for those errors in judgement? The answer is a BIG NO. The truth is government failed him in so many ways. At the center of modern day road safety management is recognition that errors made by road users (drivers, motorcyclists, cyclist and pedestrians) MUST NOT lead to their demise. Here is a situation he found himself in: Concrete Barriers on a road that encourages high speed. Who has the onus to remove this hazard? Government. I could have perished in the same circumstances a few years back before the completion of the KEE on the way to the Airport. It was a rainy early morning at about 5:00am and I drove through barriers which were made of plastic. So why were these not made of plastic? Was there a provision for lighting on that section? If not, it should have been there. This is what we mean when we say roads should be forgiving. Apart from their design, road sides are the major reference here. The road should have forgiven him for this error if it had plastic reflective barriers. These kind of barriers would have caught his attention and he would have stopped his car instead of killing him. Were the traffic lights functional? Why was there no hazard signage or warning of any sort since there were barriers in middle of the road? This section of the road is built as an expressway and as such encourages speeding especially at any time beyond midnight. There are no traffic calming measures in place yet it is freely used by pedestrians and Boda-Bodaz like any other city road. Roads are supposed to be designed and constructed bearing in mind the activities that take place around them (Land Use). Interventions to control speed must be implemented if there is a high volume of different road users. They would have got his attention and he would not have died. A glaring example of contractors that do not care about road safety is on the section of Kampala-Masaka in the swampy section of Lwera. The Concrete Barriers are there and in places where they are not, there is nothing preventing a motor vehicle falling off into the swamp. Not even a rope. UNTIL THE DAY WHEN THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COUNTRY ACCEPTS THAT ROAD CRASHES ARE PREVENTABLE AND PARLIAMENT STARTS DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILTY ON ROAD SAFETY, THIS CARNAGE WILL CONTINUE. ACCEPTING THERE IS A PROBLEM IS THE FIRST STEP TO SOLVING IT OR MANAGING IT. TOMORROW IT MIGHT BE ME OR YOU. LETS STOP PAYING LIP SERVICE TO UGANDANS ESPECIALLY ALL THOSE FAMILIES THAT LOSE LOVED ONES IN THIS MESS OF GREED AND LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY. Uganda Police Force Parliament of Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Road And Water Safety Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda 🇺🇬 Road Sense Kenya - RSK Brian 4RoadSafety roadsafetypros Road Safety Awareness Initiative (Kenya) Road Safety Alliance UN Road Safety Anita Annet Among Safe Transport and Survivors Support Uganda Legacy Road Safety Initiative (LRSI) Uganda Professional Drivers' Network Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo CISCOT Civil Society Coalition On Transport UG Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area - UDP Office of the Prime Minister - Uganda

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REST IN HEAVENLY PEACE LITTLE ANGELS. SAY HI TO MY SON. As God is my witness, I do not go out of my way to look for weaknesses in government. But the story in today’s New Vision about the road crash that killed anywhere between 25 and 30 primary‑school children seemed to imply that the responsible MDAs mounted a coordinated, unified response. In reality, no such unified response occurred. What we saw instead were isolated, uncoordinated appearances by individual ministers: - Hon. Muyingo, the Acting Minister of Education and Sports, announced a ban on school trips while standing at King David School. - Hon. Kasule Lumumba, the Minister of ICT, issued a government statement at the Uganda Media Centre. - Hon. Maganda, the Minister of State for Transport, later read a very brief statement. - Hon. Engola, the Minister of Disaster Preparedness, did not address the disaster at all. These were parallel statements, not a coordinated national response. And they all shared one thing in common: they were budget‑neutral. Not a single MDA proposed immediate funding for emergency support, nor did any propose future investment in substantive road‑safety measures. Yet this was a tragedy that demanded the highest level of government coordination. A unified response should have included a single multi‑agency meeting starting by 8:00am and ending by 11:00am and then Hon. Minister of ICT would give a true unified response from government. The meeting should at the very least had representation from: - Ministry of Works and Transport - Uganda Police - Ministry of Health - Ministry of Education - Office of the Prime Minister This is standard practice in countries with mature road‑safety systems. It ensures verified casualty numbers, coordinated messaging, technical investigation, and immediate support to families. Instead, the nation was left with contradictory statements and symbolic measures. Painting school buses a single colour was proposed, a measure with zero impact on road‑safety outcomes. The Director of Traffic then contradicted this by noting that most school buses are hired PSV buses and cannot be painted as school buses. Hon. Muyingo’s ban on school trips was a temporary emotional measure, not a solution to the underlying causes of road crashes involving school children. Meanwhile, the country was in shock. The grief felt was equivalent to national mourning. Parents were in incomprehensible agony. A unified government response should have included: - Counselling services at the school - Free transport for parents who needed to travel to hospitals or mortuaries - A central information desk for verified updates - A technical investigation team deployed within hours - A joint press briefing with consistent information None of this happened. OVER Twenty‑five children died in a single crash. The nation deserved a coordinated, compassionate, technically competent response. What it received instead was fragmentation, contradiction, and cosmetic measures that require no investment and deliver no safety improvement.

Ronald Amanyire

21,420 görüntüleme • 19 gün önce

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Road Safety at Level Rail Crosssings When I was seconded to URC from the Ministry of Works and Transport between March 2022 and March 2023, I saw firsthand how level‑crossing safety is handled. Safety Management was hapzard or non existent in some areas. Unfortunately when I raise these and other welfare concerns of the real technical people that keep the company limping on, a Minister accused me of trying to be "popular" with the workers and he did not send me back. It is still something I do not understand to date. Be popular for what? The statement on X statement does not answer the most basic safety questions. Despite the fact that the URC Act (Cap 331) clearly grants trains right of way under Section 41(5) but it still places a duty on URC to ensure safety at level crossings under Section 41(2). That responsibility is not taken serious. The statement issued today falls short of demonstrating that even the minimum safety measures were in place before the crash. These are not complicated requirements: 1. Boom Barriers: Were automated boom barriers, high‑intensity LED lights, or audible alarms installed? We discussed these interventions extensively, yet they remain absent at most crossings. 2. Visibility and signage: Were there clearly visible, reflective signs placed 200m, 100m, and 50m before the crossing? Were stop lines and “RAILWAY CROSSING” markings present? Were retroreflective posts installed to guide motorists in darkness? 3. Train Warning Signals: Was the whistle, horn, or hooter sounded? These signals are extremely loud and impossible for any attentive motorist to ignore, unless they were non‑functional or not used. 4. Flagging by URC Police: Flagging down vehicles at 6:30 a.m. is not a credible safety measure. The flags are not reflective, visibility is poor, and one officer cannot manage that entire section of the crossing (as the video shows). Motorists respond to Traffic Police because they understand their authority; most do not even recognise URC Police. 5. It is perplexing how such a road has no traffic. measures while approaching a clear hazardous area. Did UNRA not envision this? As a country, we have normalised road crashes as an unavoidable risk instead of treating them as preventable events. We cannot defend that a URC Police officer with a non‑reflective flag is an adequate substitute for engineered protections. We cannot continue ignoring global best practice while citizens die at predictable, preventable points of failure. The potential impact of this crash is scary.

Ronald Amanyire

17,184 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce

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I am ashamed to hold the title of Principal Road Safety Officer at the Ministry of Works and Transport. I am ashamed that every time a road crash happens, I feel the need to comment because I know it could have been prevented. I am ashamed that, no matter how many Ugandans die on our roads, I seem to be the only one willing to say openly that it is the responsibility of government to stop this carnage — a government I work for. If this were another country, I would have resigned long ago. Not because I am incapable of doing my job, but because I have not been given the funds, tools, or institutional support to do it. But this is Uganda, where even resignation carries the risk of losing the basic means of survival. What enrages me most is that the excuse of “lack of funding” is false. Completely false. As we began budgeting for FY 2019/20, I drafted a five‑year project to reverse road carnage. It required UGX 20 billion per year. At the last minute of the budgeting process, UGX 30 billion was approved by Ministry of Finance, under the belief that it was for road safety. They approved it knowing the intention. They were wrong. And instead of fixing the mistake, I was hounded — and continue to be hounded — while the funds were diverted to things that do nothing to save lives. Someone recently sent me that TikTok video. It reminded me of one of the core components of the project: improving driver testing. The plan was to automate the entire process. A theory test with randomised questions from a national question bank would be first for any applicant after going through any driving school. A system where once a candidate registered, every testing station — Busia, Jinja, Arua, Gulu, Mbarara, Masaka, Kabale, Fort Portal, Hoima — could see her/his results instantly. No shortcuts. No piles of paper. No manipulation. If she failed, the system would show it everywhere. Instead, the initial funding became the foundation for spending over UGX 100 billion on motor vehicle registration — and it seems the system is now worse than before. I reported this misuse to the Director Criminal Investigations Directorate-UPF, who as part of the investigation requested a forensic audit by Office of the Auditor General Uganda. I even asked to be summoned by the audit team, as shown in the screenshots. I wanted them to understand my motivation clearly. But the OAG team told me their mandate was only to confirm whether the money was spent “as per contract,” not whether it served the original purpose. They promised a value‑for‑money audit to determine whether taking motor vehicle registration from Uganda Revenue Authority was justified or simply a convenient way to siphon funds. Since then, everything has gone silent.

Ronald Amanyire

41,727 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce

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This audio may be what prompted the so‑called “commandos” to raid Bobi Wine’s home. In the recording, she explains that the threats made earlier were carried out. Al Jazeera English posted it on Instagram last evening, and it is now pinned. Her account of what happened paints a disturbing picture: dozens of large, intoxicated masked men storming her home, violating her privacy in ways many of us have never imagined possible. For four decades, the NRM has justified its rule on the foundation of peace and a disciplined army. Yet what we are witnessing now suggests that these pillars may be crumbling. How can four men sit on one woman? And what does it say that eight policemen who had effectively kept her under house arrest simply stood by and did nothing? The growing obsession with masks among security personnel is deeply troubling. Who are these people, and why are they hiding their identities? It is likely they were not even in uniform. To make matters worse, no security agency has issued any statement. One of the most disturbing comments in her account is the reference to “the same tribe.” I am not a Munyankore, though many assume I am. Why are we so determined to fuel hatred toward Westerners? How can we fail to see the long‑term danger this creates? Have we not already inflicted enough harm on this country through the money that has been stolen? What remains now? If peace is gone, and the discipline that once defined the army has collapsed, then the virtues Museveni instilled in the NRA have been completely eroded. We are coming full circle, and it is a tragedy. In moments like this, perhaps Gen. Salim Saleh should intervene to locate Bobi Wine and have a talk with him. Not arrest, but find. He has, in the past, exercised his influence in a manner that prioritizes safety. He is also someone President Museveni trusts.

Ronald Amanyire

31,822 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce

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Those who have followed my long-standing criticism of corruption in government may find my assessment of Bobi Wine’s recent actions anticlimactic. His claim that he is “in hiding” appears less like a spontaneous reaction and more like a pre‑planned accountability exercise aimed at reassuring his sponsors at home and abroad. From the initial false Sky News report to the series of foreign media interviews, the pattern suggests a coordinated narrative. It is also a sharp departure from his earlier posture as the most popular leader whose legitimacy supposedly comes from “the population.” A population which he cannot control. He further claimed that he escaped from his home after it had already been surrounded, using his “skills.” If that is true, then he fled while leaving behind his wife and children. Why didn’t he leave with them? They are not many. My view is that he likely never returned home after casting his vote—or if he did, it was only briefly. The entire performance strikes me as futile if he genuinely seeks regime change. It comes across as cowardly, poorly conceived, and designed to attract attention and create tension. In a few weeks, the country will move on, and he will have accounted for whatever funds were entrusted to him. He also appears to misunderstand the nature of peaceful protests capable of toppling a government. Does he believe that raising flags or staying at home can unseat any government—let alone the deeply entrenched NRM? By now he should know that sustained peaceful protests in Uganda are nearly impossible due to actions from both demonstrators and security forces. Admittedly, security forces bear greater responsibility because they wield weapons, but the reality remains: the environment does not allow for the kind of mass, disciplined, nonviolent mobilization that could force political change. In several interviews, he insists he would win a “free and fair” election, and like many opposition politicians, he cites the internet shutdown as proof that the election was not free and fair. But what exactly did they intend to use the internet for? Were there no credible elections before the digital age? According to publicly available data, Uganda’s internet penetration is around 37%, and social media usage is roughly 4.7%. Such numbers suggest that a small, highly connected minority can create disproportionate noise and potentially destabilize the broader population. If their agents were at the polling stations, they should have been able to transmit their data using SMS texts since there are cheap bundles for sms messaging. If he does not trust the Judiciary—as he has repeatedly stated—what was his plan in the event of losing the election? It seems clear that his strategy was always to disappear into “hiding” and then urge Ugandans to take to the streets. I do not see such mobilization happening at a scale or duration capable of forcing regime change. And if it does happen, people will die on his behalf. For comparison, Kiiza Besigye (arguably the fiercest challenger President Museveni has ever faced) is sadly in prison and in poor health, yet he never resorted to such theatrics. He was repeatedly arrested, beaten, or kidnapped, and could easily have been killed and dismissed as collateral damage. But he consistently showed up and led from the front because he genuinely believed he can in the cause.

Ronald Amanyire

25,835 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce

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komugisha Peace This is why!

Ronald Amanyire

18,635 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce

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Stop misleading Ugandans. There is no system, anywhere in the world, that truly detects traffic violations. At best, systems can capture them, and even that function is riddled with limitations. Your technology cannot capture every motorcycle registration number plate at a signaled junction, even if they linger there for an hour. The sheer volume overwhelms the system. As for lane violations: detection is impossible when most roads are unmarked. Even where markings exist, they’re either non-reflective or buried under dust. This entire charade must end—it needs a complete overhaul. Your technical drawings posted here for basic procedures smack of desperation. If transparency matters, publish clear, accessible steps for acquiring the so-called “Digital Number Plates”—that was the core of your contractual mandate. Traffic enforcement should never be privatized. It undermines legality and opens the door to extortion. If your goal is truly road safety, stop hiding speed cameras. Instead, place signs clearly where they’re installed so drivers can adjust and comply. Concealed cameras aimed at maximizing capturing violations for profit don’t enhance road safety, they erode trust. You continue running out of blanks for embossing motor vehicle registration plates, exposing a basic supply chain failure on your part. You don’t manufacture the plates, I know this, you import them and emboss locally. If this simple process is difficult for you, how can you credibly handle the complex demands of traffic enforcement? This misguided approach risks undermining road safety, as government officials are misled into believing progress is being made when, in reality, there’s little to show. That illusion is dangerous, and must be challenged. Parliament of Uganda Uganda Police Force Road Safety Advocacy Coalition Uganda 🇺🇬 Joseph Beyanga Joe Walker Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo Brian 4RoadSafety TofiiraKuKkubo initiatives Ministry of Works & Transport Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Ministry of Finance Parliament Watch NTV UGANDA NBS Television UBC UGANDA Percy B Mulamba Munwankyo ULGA Government of Uganda And what is the President talking about here?

Ronald Amanyire

14,319 görüntüleme • 1 yıl önce

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