The Northern Bypass has emerged as one of Kampala’s most dangerous road corridors, with nine of the city’s 10 major crash hotspots located along the road. According to the 2025 Kampala Road Safety Report released by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Stella Namatovu, the surveillance coordinator for Kampala City, said while presenting the findings that nine of the 10 major crash hotspots identified in the city are located along the Northern Bypass.
Among the black spots identified are the Bwaise Interchange from Kalerwe, Bwaise Roundabout, Masanafu, the Kyambogo-Najera Junction, Kalerwe Roundabout from Kyebando, Kyebando police junction. Busega Roundabout, Besega round and the Queen’s Way-Katwe section.
Namatovu said the Kampala figures reflect a wider national road safety crisis.Uganda Police recorded 5,383 road deaths nationwide in 2025, up from 5,144 in 2024, representing a 4.7 percent increase. Serious injuries also increased by 8.4 percent, with motorcyclists and pedestrians remaining the most vulnerable road users.
The Kampala report shows that the burden of road deaths continues to fall disproportionately on people who use the roads without the protection of a vehicle.
Motorcyclists accounted for about half of all reported deaths, while pedestrians accounted for 43 percent. Together with cyclists, vulnerable road users accounted for about 94 percent of all road deaths in Kampala, according to the KCCA report.
Namatovu said the pattern is not new. KCCA’s 2024 report similarly found that pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists accounted for 94 percent of fatalities, with motorcyclists alone accounting for 49 percent of deaths.
The Kampala findings also reveal a strong age dimension to the road safety crisis, with people aged between 20 and 29 recording the highest number of deaths and serious injuries in 2025.
Namatovu said the age group represents Uganda’s economically productive population, meaning that road crashes not only cause immediate loss of life but also deprive families, workplaces and the wider economy of valuable human resources.
Men continued to account for the overwhelming majority of victims in Kampala, representing more than 82 percent of deaths and about 73 percent of serious injuries.
The report further found that fatal crashes were most common between 2pm and 4pm.
Namatovu said further research is needed to establish why this period carries a particularly high risk.
The Kampala pattern differs from the national picture. Uganda Police statistics for 2025 show that fatalities nationwide were highest between 6pm and 8pm.
October was the month with the highest number of reported crash fatalities in Kampala. Nationally, October was also the deadliest month of 2025, with police recording 523 road deaths.
Namatovu called on road safety agencies to move beyond documenting crashes and instead concentrate resources in areas and periods where the risks are greatest.
She said priority should be given to protecting pedestrians and motorcyclists, who account for the overwhelming majority of road deaths in Kampala.
She also urged authorities and road safety advocates to address high-risk locations, particularly the Northern Bypass and its intersections, through a combination of engineering improvements, enforcement and road-user education.
Namatovu further called for enforcement and preventive activities during periods when crashes are most likely to occur. In Kampala, the report recommends greater visibility and preventive measures during the 2pm–4pm peak period, as well as increased attention during the October–December period.
Kampala Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga attributed the increase in road crashes in the city partly to the poor state of the road network.
Balimwezo, who said he is himself a victim of a road crash that resulted in the amputation of one of his legs, said many roads in Kampala have outlived their lifespan and developed potholes that force motorists to make sudden manoeuvres, sometimes resulting in crashes.
He, however, commended KCCA for its efforts to pave and rehabilitate roads across the city, saying Kampala has effectively become a construction zone because of the number of roads currently under construction and rehabilitation.
Balimwezo also criticised utility companies for cutting into newly completed roads while installing or repairing utility lines.He singled out companies responsible for water and telecommunications infrastructure, saying utility providers should make use of service ducts provided by KCCA instead of repeatedly cutting into finished roads.
He said he would convene a stakeholder engagement with Kampala residents to discuss the kind of city they want, including measures to address littering, open defecation and other challenges affecting the city.
Balimwezo also urged city road engineers to design roads that communicate clearly with road users.
He said many roads in Kampala have traffic lights but lack adequate road signs to inform motorists about road conditions, hazards and changes ahead.
He called for intensified road safety awareness among boda boda riders, taxi drivers, traders and other road users to help them understand the causes of crashes and how they can be prevented.
Balimwezo also advocated for the introduction of a light rail system in Kampala to help reduce congestion on the city’s roads. He said an investor had expressed interest in investing in a light rail system for the city.
He further urged authorities to ensure that all roads under construction include pedestrian walkways and dedicated bicycle lanes to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
KCCA Deputy Executive Director Simon Kigenyi said the road crash patterns and trends highlighted in the report demonstrate the scale of deaths and injuries on Kampala’s roads and the need for coordinated action to make the city safer.
According to figures cited by Kigenyi, 172 pedestrians died in road crashes in Kampala in 2025, an average of about 14 deaths every month or roughly four deaths every week.He compared this with the 204 pedestrian deaths recorded in 2019, equivalent to approximately 17 deaths per month or more than five deaths every week.
Kigenyi also cited 1,784 cases of serious injuries in 2025, translating to about 148 serious injuries every month or nearly five every day.Pedestrians accounted for 835 of those serious injuries an average of about 69 cases per month or more than two every day.
He also pointed to fatalities involving other categories of road users, including women and vehicle occupants, stressing that the figures represent lives lost and people injured rather than merely statistics.
Kigenyi said the analysis also provides important information about when crashes are most likely to occur.
According to the report, many crashes were recorded on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, highlighting the need for targeted interventions based on identified crash patterns.
He said road safety data is critical because it helps authorities understand how, when and where crashes occur, enabling them to identify high-risk areas and determine where investments are most urgently needed.
The data, he added, can guide interventions such as improving road signage, reducing identified risks and strengthening planning for road safety programmes.
With the Northern Bypass and its intersections emerging as some of Kampala’s most dangerous locations, road safety advocates are now calling for a shift from simply recording crashes to preventing them through targeted engineering, enforcement, education and investment.
For Kampala’s pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists the people who make up the overwhelming majority of those killed on the city’s roads the success of those interventions could mean the difference between reaching home safely and becoming another statistic-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
