WAKISO
Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality MP Dr David Sserukenya has blamed the escalating road accidents on systematic policy failures and neglect of road infrastructure.
His comments follow a fatal road crash that claimed the lives of pupils from King David Junior School in Ndejje , Makindye Ssabagabo in Kapchorwa district, Eastern Uganda.
On Thursday evening at Chekwatit Village in Kawowo Sub-county, Kapchorwa District, an Isuzu school bus returning from an educational tour to Sipi Falls reportedly lost control, veered off the road, struck a large roadside stone and overturned killing and injuring pupils and some staff.
According to the Uganda Police Force, 21 people, comprising 20 pupils and one adult, have so far been confirmed dead, while several others were injured and are receiving treatment at Kaserem Health Centre IV, Kapchorwa General Hospital and Mbale Regional Referral Hospital.
Reacting to the tragedy, Sserukenya, whose constituency is home to King David Junior School in Ndejje, expressed sympathy to the bereaved families and called for accountability over road safety. He described the accident as a national tragedy.
“Devastating. May God strengthen the grieving families of these little angels whose lives were cut short senselessly,” he said.
He argued that the tragedy should not be viewed as an isolated road accident but as evidence of deeper failures in the country’s transport safety systems.
“This tragedy is not a mere accident. It is a direct consequence of systemic policy failure and institutional neglect that has turned many roads into death traps,” Sserukenya said.
The legislator commended the speaker of parliament Jacob Oboth Oboth, health ministry and locals in Kapchorwa and the entire Sebei sub-region for immediate response to rescue lives of some of the learners.
Meanwhile, police said investigations into the exact cause of the crash are ongoing. Preliminary findings indicate that the driver lost control of the bus while descending from the Sipi Falls area, although investigators are yet to determine the circumstances that led to the loss of control.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to Kapchorwa Mortuary for identification and postmortem examinations.
The tragedy has sparked renewed calls for stricter enforcement of road safety regulations, regular inspection of school buses and improved maintenance of roads used by vehicles transporting learners.
“School proprietors should ensure that vehicles that ferry pupils are in roadworthy conditions, with mature and experienced drivers, and that the vehicles aren’t overloaded with pupils,” said.the Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga.
By Press time, families of the children who had gone to the tour were still at the school awaiting the identification of the victims. This is one of the deadliest school transport crashes in recent years.
