The National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party has called upon the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to maintain the existing roads and construct new ones to avoid the overly increasing cases of road accidents in the country.

The remarks were made by Moses Matovu, the NEED party spokesperson, during the party’s weekly presser on April 22, 2024, at the party headquarters in Rubaga, Kampala.

Matovu said that the roads in and out of Kampala city are in a dire state, which has caused a lot of accidents, adding that on average, six people die daily on Kampala roads.

“UNRA should not wait till the roads sink in order to start doing repairs like we are seeing on Masaka Road. UNRA should also put up clear road signs, identify black spots on the roads, and mark them to warn the drivers, as this will reduce accidents on the roads,” he said.

He cautioned the reckless drivers on the roads and the traffic officers who accepted to take bribes and let careless drivers on the road.

“As a party, we advise road users not to be excited while on the road, which leads to overspeeding and overtaking, leading to accidents. The traffic officers should stop accepting bribes from these reckless drivers but rather arrest them,” Matove noted.

The UNRA spokesperson, Allan Ssempebwa, stated that roads are being maintained by the authority, adding that the change in weather is the main cause of some roads sinking in.

“The Masaka road, Kyengera-Budo section, got sunk in because of the too much rain, but a UNRA team is on the ground, and soon the road will be accessible again. All affected roads in Kampala are planned to be worked on, but it’s a gradual process,” he stated.

This comes after a number of citizens complained about the bad roads around Kampala capital city and its outskirts, which have led to an increase in traffic jam and accidents.