By Diana. N. Kintu.
Kampala authorities have rolled out a renewed road safety drive urging motorists to slow down during the festive period, a month long associated with the highest number of road crashes in Uganda. The campaign, themed “They Are Speed Limits for a Reason,” was unveiled this week by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in collaboration with the Uganda Professional Drivers Network (UPDN). It targets the spike in reckless driving typically witnessed in December, when nationwide travel surges.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of troubling findings from the 2024 Annual Crime Report, which recorded 2,445 crashes in December alone, with speeding cited as the leading cause. Authorities say the new campaign is designed to reverse these trends by intensifying both public awareness and enforcement.
Unveiling the campaign at the 4th Annual Professional Drivers Conference and Road Transport Stakeholders Excellence Awards, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago called for heightened driver responsibility during the festive season. The launch followed several workshop sessions where sector professionals had met to design practical interventions for safer roads.
“As we move into the holiday season, travel intensifies and the risk on our roads increases,” Lukwago said. “This campaign is a timely reminder that speed limits exist to protect lives. I call upon every driver to slow down and help us reduce preventable injuries and deaths.”
His remarks captured the central themes discussed at the conference — especially the need for behaviour change among motorists, motivating compliance beyond fines, and fostering a support system among drivers.
Throughout December, the public will encounter an expanded multi-media sensitisation effort, including radio and television messages, digital outreach, and visual messaging in public transport vehicles. The educational component will run alongside stepped-up enforcement by traffic police, with officers conducting more speed checks and visible patrols on busy highways and city routes.
Authorities say the combined approach is crucial. Discussions during the conference highlighted that road safety cannot rely solely on sensitisation; enforcement must work hand in hand with education, training institutions, fleet owners, and individual drivers.
UPDN Executive Director Ndugu Omongo stressed that professional drivers, who form a major segment of Uganda’s passenger and cargo transport system, shoulder greater responsibility during the high-traffic season. “Professional drivers carry an even greater responsibility during the festive season,” he said. “Safe driving practices protect passengers, pedestrians and all other road users.”
He added that the new KCCA campaign reinforces the conference’s emphasis on peer accountability, where drivers are encouraged to support one another by promoting discipline and reporting unsafe practices.
The broader message emerging from both the conference and the campaign is that road safety must be treated as a collective responsibility. Stakeholders advocated for stronger training systems, renewal of instructional methods in driving schools, and strict action against willful disobedience of traffic regulations — issues they say must be tackled if the country is to reduce the annual toll of road fatalities.
By formalising the campaign during a gathering of frontline actors in the transport sector, KCCA and UPDN signalled their intent to convert policy discussions into immediate action. The holiday-season intervention, authorities hope, will not only reduce crashes in December but also set the tone for long-term behavioural change on Uganda’s roads.
“Road safety requires the effort of every stakeholder,” Lord Mayor Lukwago concluded. “Together, we can protect lives during this festive season and beyond.”