#OutToLunch Privatize road rescue services to reduce accidents on our highways

By Denis Jjuuko

If you ever pitch rides in vehicles that belong to international organizations operating in Uganda, you will notice at least two things. The first one is that many don’t move beyond 6.00pm especially on the highways. If the time is not enough to cover the distance and be parked by 6.00pm, they reschedule to the next day. The second one is that many drivers don’t usually do speeds beyond 100kph. Yet some of these vehicles are some of the most powerful on the road — V8 or V6 engines and brought in brand new. Not the usual end of life vehicle we gladly import from Japan.

The reason they insist on their vehicles moving during day is largely for safety reasons. Regardless of how modern the car headlights get, there is better visibility during the day which enables the driver to make informed decisions fast.

It is more likely to find a tired driver during the night than during daytime. The assumption is that the driver would have had enough rest during the night to drive carefully during the day. At night is when you find a crazy driver that has decided to do a return journey from Arua to Kampala on the same day.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is more common during the night than during the day. Many people who drink alcohol don’t do so during the day. But in the evening, they grab a bottle or several after which they sit behind the steering and drive, sometimes very long distances.

Also at night, there is no traffic police on the road to warn or fine drivers breaking traffic rules. It is one of the reasons vehicles especially trucks that are in dangerous mechanical conditions (DMC) or those that are wrongly loaded tend to move at night. Apart from a police patrol vehicle stopping them occasionally, they make their trips unrestricted.

Many such trucks breakdown on the roads and don’t provide enough warning for other road users. Chances are higher to ram into a stationary vehicle at night than during the day.

Do road accidents occur during the day? Absolutely. But it is way safer to travel during the day in Uganda than at night. Even if you put road accidents aside, it is still safer to travel during the day as you can easily get help should you have a mechanical issue to deal with. Thugs that stage illegal road blocks also do so during the night.

Of course, government should not regulate the time when we can travel on the highways but we could learn a thing or two from international organizations and why they insist that their vehicles and staff should only move during daytime. They are trying to reduce the possibility of avoidable road accidents and other incidents that could put their staff in danger.

Road accidents are always in the news either when many people die in a single road incident or when a prominent person dies in one just like businessman Apollo Nyegamehe popularly known as Aponye did two weeks ago. It is not clear what exactly caused the accident that claimed his life but what we know so far is that he was traveling at night and his vehicle rammed into a stationary truck.

Although the government may not legislate the time we should be moving, it can make roads safer. The model being used on the Entebbe Expressway could be deployed on all the highways or at least on the busiest ones.

This can be done by reinstituting road tolls. So every road user pays a fee and the money is used to maintain the road and most importantly clearing it of any obstacles that could lead to accidents as well as helping those involved in accidents.

A private competent company would be hired to provide a road safety service. Once a vehicle gets a mechanical problem or runs out of fuel (like most vehicles in Uganda do), a tow truck would arrive in time to get it off the road to ensure that it doesn’t lead to traffic delays and most importantly accidents. An ambulance would also be deployed to rush those in need of medical attention to nearby health facilities.

That would require several tow trucks and ambulances (including a helicopter ambulance) deployed every predetermined distance for them to be effective. Where the need may require heavy lifting cranes, the company managing the highway would be able to put measures in place for drivers to use the road carefully until the obstacle has been cleared. The company would also maintain road signage and such other furniture.

This would not end all road accidents but at least it would reduce the carnage on our highways and make them safer than they are today.

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

Tags: Denis Jjuuko, Entebbe Expressway, Government of Uganda ., international organizations, Japan, Out to Lunch, Prime Time Communications, vehicles

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#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started

#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started By Denis Jjuuko Some of Uganda’s universities have concluded their end of year exams at least for their undergraduate students. Some students have taken to social media to celebrate this milestone. It is not every day that one gets to complete their education. In Uganda, many have been studying since they were three years old or younger. That is averagely 20 years of classrooms. Phew! Anything that takes 20 years to accomplish should be celebrated. And those in Uganda who have managed to complete their education are the lucky few. The majority of kids who start their primary education don’t get the opportunity to sit their primary leaving exams. Numbers continue dropping in secondary education and other levels. The end of exams comes for most of these students at the precipice of something new —disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence that is changing the world. Some jobs will have to go but many others will be created. There are about 400,000 young people that enter the job market in Uganda every year. It is a dauting task to find work but it is also an opportunity for many young people to define their future. The end of final year exams and the graduation ceremony in months ahead doesn’t mean the end of learning. Formal education for many may be over but lifelong learning starts right now. Life is about learning something new all the time and being able to adapt to the realities that are thrown our way. But the most important thing for the majority of young people finishing their university or other education is finding a job. There is a lot of talk about the disruptive nature of artificial intelligence but machines and such technologies won’t entirely replace humans. Those who will succeed are those who will learn how to work alongside them. But there are still other things that fresh graduates looking for a job in Uganda must embrace. They are equally important or even more critical than even some of the digital skills. Talent alone or high academic qualifications may open the door for you but it won’t keep you in the room. That is why many times people with average talent succeed over the most talented ones. Virtues that keep average people flying. At university, there is perhaps no course unit on virtues. Stuff like honesty. Yet it is a key ingredient of success. How many people promise to do something and do it? There is an increasing shortage of honest people in Uganda. Anyone who tries not to shortchange everyone will succeed. People including the most dishonest ones like working with honest people. They want to protect their side of the bargain. You have heard of honor among thieves. Communication skills are very important. You can’t only answer your phone call before you receive the deposit to do some work and then answer only when you want and then complain that person demanding their work are unreasonable. They were not unreasonable before you agreed to do the work. Giving feedback is critical. When they send you somewhere, you must report back. You don’t wait to be asked to inform them of what happened. Employers like people who are proactive. And so do customers for those who may want to go the self-employment or hustling route. There is no African time. And if you plan to work in Kampala, at the moment there is no public transport worth the ink of this article. Roads get clogged. But you can’t tell people that you arrived late because of traffic jam. I understand these days roads can be closed even to pedestrians but the reason you have a phone is to call and communicate why there is a delay. You may give it as an excuse but people will one day find out that you are lying. Read as much as possible. The more you read, the more you understand the world its complexities. Reading creates an open mind. Don’t be rigid. Listen to what others say. Writing even in the age of ChatGPT is still important. You will not always be sending WhatsApp audios. Learn to write. You can’t avoid it. One way to learn writing is by reading. And of course, learn a new skill. There are many online courses. Google, Storytelling Africa, Udemy and many other platforms provide free or very affordable courses. All you need is an internet connection and sparing a few hours a week. In the meantime, congratulations on the completion of your university education. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant djjuuko@gmail.com

June 4, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government, banks must do more to curb digital financial crimes

#OutToLunch: Police, banks must do more to curb digital financial crimes By Denis Jjuuko A friend was recently riding on a boda boda in a leafy Kampala suburb when another speeding boda boda approached her. The approaching boda boda had a passenger, a young man, who grabbed her bag and sped off. It was in the early afternoon. It is a normal thing in Kampala to lose your bag or be attacked like that whether you are in one of Kampala’s exclusive suburbs or not. Walking on Kampala’s streets including the busiest ones is never safe. You simply don’t know when you will be attacked. Although she had some money and other essentials in her bag, her biggest concern was her smartphone. Like many people, a phone is one of those things that are hard to do without nowadays. She was frustrated and went on a frantic search for it. Reporting to the police and such other things. She can’t work without a phone so she decided to replace it as soon as possible so she can carry on with her business and be able to get in touch with her family and friends. As soon she got a replacement phone that afternoon, she started receiving several messages that scared her. The thieves who stole her phone were not ordinary ones or at least they have a network of sophisticated hackers. The messages she was now receiving indicated that money had been transferred from her bank account to another account within the same bank. This happened within a few hours or minutes of losing her phone. She hasn’t yet been able to trace the thieves and find way to get her money back. She most likely won’t succeed. Like most people who buy high end smartphones, she had thought it was one of those safe things and it couldn’t be easily cracked open in Kampala shortly after losing it. It seems the more technologically advanced smartphones become, the more sophisticated the hackers become too. There must be a racket in Kampala who send young men on boda bodas to grab smartphones so they can hack them and transfer money to their accounts within a few minutes. They must be sitting somewhere and waiting whose phone they land on. And the fact that they can transfer money illegally from one bank account to another, shows how confident they are that they won’t be caught. There is an increased number of Ugandans embracing digital banking and even a higher number using mobile money platforms. It is convenient and modern. One doesn’t have to always spend hours in the banking halls transacting. It is not 1990 anymore. Digital banking including mobile money had led to some financial inclusion with many people, hitherto unbanked, able to access financial services. There are even people whose only access to financial services is through mobile money. But how safe is their money? If somebody can lose a modern smartphone and within a few minutes they have lost their money, how can the banking and mobile money companies help them? How can police help them? Largely, the majority of Ugandans are left to suffer with losses. Trips to the police to help track the thieves become endless and costly that the majority of Ugandans have given up to even reporting about it. They know there won’t be much help to recover the money. The banks and mobile money companies will largely blame the victim and do everything in their power to protect themselves. Because we have spent much time ignoring these attacks and blaming the victims, the thieves have now gained so much confidence that they are attacking government payment systems. The case of Uganda losing Shs60 billion in 60 minutes when a payment was initiated by the Ministry of Finance to the country’s central bank is still fresh. Although the attack happened in September 2024, not all the money has yet been recovered. And we are talking about government here with all the resources and contacts you can imagine. Imagine how much is being lost by individuals and businesses. Like my friend, a small business owner, the thieves have set her several years back. She wasn’t able to pay her rent and salaries for April on time. She now has to borrow to keep her business running. The police and other security intelligence organs must put in a shift to curb the rampant digital financial and other crimes. Players in the financial industry must also continuously invest in technologies that limit these crimes while sensitizing their clients on these issues otherwise gains made will be lost when people return to old ways of banking or keeping the money in their pillowcases. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

May 27, 2025

Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches

#OutToLunch: A blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches By Denis Jjuuko When it comes to religion, many times politicians, billionaire entrepreneurs, the middle class and other classes agree. At least on building magnificent houses of God. Across Uganda, many people have contributed or even single handedly built these houses of God. Fancy to a fault, majestically standing on hills with spires that compete with those seen in Hollywood movies. Many of these worship centres, particularly those single handedly built by one person or a family with their friends, are usually located in rural areas where the funders were born, walked barefoot to school before migrating to Kampala to find fortune and fame. The floors are of Italian or Spanish marble, porcelain or at worst polished terrazzo. Stained glasses with the beautiful image of the Virgin Mary complete the curvy life size windows. The pews are of the hardest wood. The world’s best sound engineers come in to install the public address system. The house of God must be fancy. Once construction is complete, they call in their Kampala friends for the grand opening. The clergy lines up at the foot of the building to welcome them. The parking lot is full of the most expensive SUVs. The parishioners walk in every prayer day fearful of stepping on the floors, sometimes so shiny that they see their own body reflections. Their best clothes can’t even be used to clean the pews. They can scratch them. For a moment, the poor are in heaven before returning to their houses where floors are screeded with cow dung. There is nothing wrong with people using their fortune and connections to build grand churches or mosques. It is their money; their appreciation of what God has helped them achieve. They no longer have some of these other problems so they can “give back” to God. The problem is whether the grandeur church is what the community really needs. Shouldn’t politicians, the rich and famous first do a needs assessment? Usually, besides the magnificent house of God stands a school with a falling roof or whose walls are being held in place by crooked timber poles. Windows are just wide openings where mild steel frames would do. Inside some of the classrooms, are anthills. Pupils sit on logs and like their homes, the cow dung is the main material used for floor screeding. Teachers look like they last had a decent meal on Christmas day. The health centre is miles away and poorly equipped. The only hope for survival whenever they fall sick is through prayer in the church built for them by the only person who was lucky enough to survive the biting poverty. Yet the funders go to India or Kenya or Germany whenever they feel any discomfort. And are not afraid to give testimony that last time they fell sick, they traveled to Europe for better management and while there, they were thankful to God for their life hence the magnificent church building. Yet the blueprint for an impactful church exists. In most cases wherever the Catholics built a church, they built a school as well and almost everywhere they set up their regional headquarters (read a diocese), they built a functional hospital. They knew that you can’t pastor the dead! They also knew that an educated population is good for them and their beliefs. Some people call it sustainability and perhaps that is why they have existed for millennia. You saw how they put on a show at Pope Francis’ funeral. Why can’t politicians and billionaire businessmen do the same? If you have Shs6 billion (nearly US$2 million) like we heard of the Ssembabule church or the one in Mitooma, why not build a church of Shs2 billion, a school of Shs2 billion and a healthy centre of Shs2 billion? You could also may be build all those with about 70% of the kitty and create an endowment fund with the remaining 30%. The annual interest from the fund could be used to operate the school and the hospital. If 30% of Shs6b is invested say in a long-term treasury bond, it could give a net return of approximately Shs255m per a year or Shs21.3m per a month, enough to subsidize a rural school and health facility. Alternatively, an income generating project could be established alongside the church building. A factory to add value for the parishioners. It could be a dairy plant or a coffee factory depending on the area. A scholarship for the needy bright students could be another alternative. That way people wouldn’t have to meet their creator ahead of time. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

May 27, 2025

Latest Articles

#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started

June 4, 2025

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government, banks must do more to curb digital financial crimes

May 27, 2025

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches

May 27, 2025