KAMPALA: The Northern Bypass has emerged as a major road safety concern in Kampala, accounting for nine of the 10 locations identified as the city’s leading crash hotspots.
The finding is contained in the 2025 Kampala Road Safety Report prepared by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Stella Namatovu, the Kampala City surveillance coordinator, said the concentration of high-risk locations along the Northern Bypass points to the need for targeted interventions at the road and its major junctions.
The locations identified include the Bwaise Interchange from Kalerwe, Bwaise Roundabout, Masanafu, Kyambogo-Najera Junction, Kalerwe Roundabout from Kyebando, Kyebando Police Junction, Busega Roundabout, Busega Round and the Queensway-Katwe section.
The Kampala findings form part of a wider road safety challenge facing Uganda.
Uganda Police recorded 5,383 road deaths across the country in 2025, compared with 5,144 deaths in 2024, representing a 4.7 percent increase. Serious injuries also rose by 8.4 percent during the same period.
Motorcyclists and pedestrians continued to bear the greatest burden of the road safety crisis.
In Kampala, motorcyclists accounted for approximately half of all reported road deaths, while pedestrians represented 43 percent. When cyclists are included, vulnerable road users accounted for about 94 percent of all fatalities recorded in the city.
The pattern is consistent with findings from the previous year. The 2024 KCCA road safety report also established that pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists made up 94 percent of fatality victims, with motorcyclists alone accounting for 49 percent of deaths.
The 2025 report further shows that young adults were particularly affected. People aged between 20 and 29 recorded the highest number of deaths and serious injuries.
Namatovu said the figures are especially concerning because the age group constitutes a significant portion of Uganda’s economically active population.
She said road crashes therefore have consequences beyond the immediate loss of life, affecting families, employers and the wider economy through the loss of productive members of society.
Men were also disproportionately represented among crash victims, accounting for more than 82 percent of deaths and about 73 percent of serious injuries in Kampala.
The report identified between 2pm and 4pm as the period when fatal crashes were most frequently recorded in the city.
Namatovu said additional research is required to establish the factors behind the afternoon peak.
The Kampala trend differs from the national picture, where Uganda Police recorded the highest number of fatalities between 6pm and 8pm in 2025.
October was Kampala’s deadliest month of the year. At national level, October also recorded the highest number of road deaths, with 523 fatalities.
Namatovu urged road safety agencies to use crash data to direct resources towards locations, road users and periods where the risks are highest instead of concentrating mainly on documenting incidents after they occur.
She called for greater protection of pedestrians and motorcyclists, who together account for the majority of road deaths in Kampala.
She also recommended a combination of engineering improvements, stronger enforcement and road safety education at dangerous locations, particularly along the Northern Bypass and its intersections.
The report also calls for increased preventive activity between 2pm and 4pm and greater road safety attention during the October to December period.
Poor roads blamed for crashes
Kampala Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga partly attributed the increase in crashes to the deteriorating condition of the city’s road network.
Balimwezo, who said he personally suffered a road crash that resulted in the amputation of one of his legs, argued that some roads have exceeded their intended lifespan and are now characterised by potholes and other defects.
He said such conditions can force motorists to make sudden manoeuvres, increasing the likelihood of collisions.
The Lord Mayor nevertheless commended KCCA for its ongoing road construction and rehabilitation programme, saying the volume of works has effectively turned Kampala into a construction zone.
He also criticised utility companies for repeatedly excavating newly completed roads to install or repair infrastructure.
Balimwezo singled out water and telecommunications service providers, urging them to use service ducts incorporated into road projects rather than cutting into finished roads.
He said he would convene discussions with Kampala residents and other stakeholders on the kind of city they want, including ways of tackling challenges such as littering and open defecation.
Balimwezo further called for roads to be designed in a way that gives road users clear information about what lies ahead.
He said the presence of traffic lights alone is not sufficient where roads lack adequate signage warning motorists about hazards, road conditions and approaching changes.
He also called for stronger road safety awareness among boda boda riders, taxi operators, traders and other road users, saying better understanding of crash risks could help prevent avoidable deaths.
To address congestion, Balimwezo backed the introduction of a light rail system in Kampala, saying an investor had expressed interest in developing such a project.
He also urged authorities to make pedestrian walkways and dedicated cycling lanes standard features of new and rehabilitated roads.
KCCA calls for data-driven action
KCCA Deputy Executive Director Simon Kigenyi said the report provides a clearer picture of the scale and distribution of road deaths and injuries in Kampala.
He said the figures should be treated as more than statistics because each death or injury represents an individual, a family and, in many cases, a loss to the city’s workforce.
According to figures cited by Kigenyi, 172 pedestrians were killed in road crashes in Kampala in 2025. This translates to an average of about 14 pedestrian deaths every month, or approximately four every week.
By comparison, 204 pedestrians died in 2019, equivalent to about 17 deaths per month and more than five each week.
Kigenyi also reported 1,784 cases of serious injuries in Kampala during 2025, translating to approximately 148 cases every month or nearly five each day.
Pedestrians accounted for 835 of those serious injuries, an average of about 69 cases every month and more than two every day.
He said the report also captures fatalities and injuries involving other road-user categories, including women and vehicle occupants, underscoring the broad human cost of road crashes.
The analysis identified Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday as days associated with higher numbers of crashes, providing another basis for authorities to tailor enforcement and prevention measures.
Kigenyi said reliable road safety data is essential because it allows authorities to establish where, when and how crashes occur and consequently determine where limited resources should be directed.
The information can, for example, guide improvements in road signs and infrastructure, help identify hazards and strengthen the planning of road safety programmes.
With the Northern Bypass accounting for nine of Kampala’s 10 leading crash hotspots, the findings place the corridor at the centre of the city’s road safety challenge.
The report and KCCA officials are therefore calling for a shift towards prevention, with engineering, enforcement, public education and targeted investment focused on the locations and road users facing the greatest risks.
For pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, who account for the overwhelming majority of people killed on Kampala’s roads, the effectiveness of those interventions could ultimately determine whether a journey ends safely or in another road crash.
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