Last Updated on: 19th December 2022, 03:54 pm
The Parliament of Uganda has lost its member in a fatal road crash on Monday morning. Patrick Okabe, who until his death was the Serere County MP, died together with his wife, Christine Okabe.
Whereas it is true that people die, this particular one has stunned the entire nation just like the recent deaths the country has had to deal with.
Okabe’s death is one of the country’s deaths involving a high profile person. At the legislative level, he joins the former Speaker of Parliament and Omoro County MP, Jacob Oulanyah who died from Seattle, United States of America early this year.
He was a community transformer, a true servant leader and believer of Christ, some people are now describing him as such.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa said on receiving the sad news. “Extremely sad to comprehend the passing on of Hon. Patrick Okabe, MP Serere County.”
Tayebwa described Okabe as “a true voice of reason, an author, a passionate believer in the Almighty and Peace Maker”.
“Hon. Okabe has died at a time when we needed him most! Condolences to the family. Rest in Peace brother,” he added.
Cause of the crash
On Monday morning, the spokesperson of the directorate of traffic and road safety at the Uganda Police, ASP Faridha Nampiima issued a statement and disclosed the cause of the road crash.
“The cause of the accident has been attributed to the Isuzu box body driver who drifted from his side to the side of the Land cruiser that was coming from Mbale heading to Iganga and thus had a head on collision. The driver of the Fuso box body is on the run,” she said.
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Road crash data and targets
Ugandan roads continue to kill people, leaving dozens wounded. The country, according to certified reports, is leading in the region.
According to the Uganda Police traffic and road safety report of July 2 to July 9, 2022, a total of 328 crashes occurred nationally. Out of these 62 were fatal, 180 were serious and 86 were minor.
Amidst the repeated dilemmas, loss of lives and damage to road infrastructures, Uganda has been commended for promoting road safety. The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the global bodies to applaud the East African nation.
In September 2022, WHO pledged to work with parliament and other stakeholders in implementing its new resolutions aimed at reducing traffic deaths by 50 percent within a decade.
While meeting lawmakers on the road safety committee at parliament in the aforementioned month, WHO head of safety and mobility Dr Nhan Tran, called on member states to reduce road traffic deaths by 50 percent in 2031.
“One of the tasks mandated by WHO is to monitor progress made by member states in curbing road accidents and this can through pilot studies with member states for more accurate figures,” he added, as quoted by the Parliament website.
National Road Safety Council of Uganda (NRSC), Ministry of Works and Transport had a fatal road safety target to reduce fatalities by 50% between 2014 and 2022.