The Nicole Foundation celebrated its second anniversary on 15th January 2023 at St. Mark’s Church Entebbe, with a call for stiffer measures to deter road accidents. The anniversary was presided over by Major General (Retired) Kahinda Otafiire, the Minister of Internal Affairs who called for tougher measures to be put in place to check on the “upside down mentality” exhibited by drivers on the roads, which results in nearly 3,000 fatalities annually, according to the last published police crime report.

“There is a lot of foolishness on the road. Let’s look for stiff measures to deter these crashes. But of course, there is no stiffer punishment than death. People need to learn that you are driving a machine, which does what you tell it to do, and unfortunately, there is usually a lot of innocent lives that are lost due to this foolishness,” he said. Gen. Otafiire appreciated the work of the Nicole Foundation, and appealed to the Foundation to expand its activities in terms of scope and coverage.

Speaking on behalf of the Foundation, Ms. Lindah Ankunda recognised the importance of partnerships in tackling road safety.

“Several like-minded partners have accepted to join hands with the Nicole Foundation, including the Uganda Police Force, Ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda Insurers Association (UIA), VIVO Energy, Tondeka Metro Bus Service, Innovation Village, and the Uganda Road Accident Reduction Network Organization (URRENO). We are grateful for their support, and look forward to continuing to partner with them during the years to come,” she said.

In a speech read for him, Mr. Fabrice Rulinda, the Mayor of Entebbe expressed willingness to work with the Foundation to improve aspects of road safety within Entebbe Municipality. “There is need to enhance the safety on our improving road network. For instance, the number of accidents near Victoria Mall is on the increase due to inadequate design of the roundabout. This needs to be addressed by UNRA”.
According to a 2018 International Road Assessment Programme study, road carnage costs Uganda over UGX 4 trillion annually. The country, the study showed, loses UGX 215m for every fatality and UGX 53m for every serious injury.

The Nicole Foundation is a road safety not-for profit organisation, started in memory of the late Nicole Blessing Ahumuza Rubondo, who died in a car accident in January 2020 in Kasese District. The foundation advocates for road safety through advocacy campaigns, including mapping out of blackspots on all major roads.