Dipu says that, such initiatives have been slowed down due to covid19 frustrations, which have left several drivers financially constrained, however they have embarked on an initiative of convincing all rally participants to donate a small fee of at least 100,000 Shillings each per event, with an aim of boosting donation drives to the targeted communities.
Mulawa Waiswa, a resident within the area says that the crash has resulted into panic within their community and most of the parents have resolved to locking up their children inside the houses, as a means of deterring them from being exposed to the accident scene.
Fatinah Nakyisuyi, one of the eyewitnesses says that the truck driver lost control and parked abruptly forcing Musenero to ram into his vehicle. “The vehicle was being driven at breakneck speed. While running over the humps, the driver parked the truck abruptly, Musenero who was riding from the opposite direction rammed into it and died instantly,” she said.
It is reported that, at around midnight, a Kenyan bound bus registration number KCX 258B was involved in a head-on collision with a Fuso of registration number UBE 007W. The Fuso driver whose particulars are not yet identified died on spot, and four passengers sustained injuries and are now admitted at Jinja Hospital.
Other vehicles owned by utility service providers, which ferried excess passengers were also impounded, although most of their illegal passengers abandoned their transporters and fled.
The accident occurred at the railway crossing line blocking vehicles from crossing from either side. Eye witnesses told URN that the incident occurred at around 8:30 pm when the truck driver failed to stop for the train to cross.
Some eight traffic police officers who spoke on condition of anonymity told URN that they have been involved in minor accidents, which drivers blame on poor visibility of officers along the highways.
The victims who were riding on a motorcycle registration number, UDN 597K from Namayingo district collided with a sugarcane truck registration number, UAY 463B in Lugolole trading center in Mayuge district along the Musita-Lumino highway.
According to the traffic and road safety regulations, a driver of a vehicle is required to exercise extra care in approaching and traversing rail crossings and apply reasonable speed to enable him or her to stop if circumstances so require.
The Association says if the curfew commencement hour remains as it has been over the last two months, many of the operators are unlikely to make ends meet in terms of daily earnings. The driver's body says the commencement of curfew times as announced by the President limits them to one route per day.
Joseph Wambui, a driver from Eldoret in Kenyan claims that drivers who run out of food and lack partners within Uganda are tasked to seek supply from their employers, which is time consuming.
The hostility, they say, started with an increase in the number of Coronavirus cases recorded among truck drivers, mainly those entering the country from Kenya and Tanzania. In recent weeks, more than 100 truck drivers have tested positive to the virus, driving cases of coronavirus in the country now 248.
“As a community, we feel it is not safe for us but, we can’t do anything about it because those engaged in this business are powerful people. These youths plant Jerry cans in front of our shops and whenever trucks make stop overs. An average of 10 boys gather to interact with the drivers as they siphon fuel,” he said.
