Joe Walker, friends kick off Kampala-Mbale trek
Road safety advocate Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker, together with friends on Monday morning, kicked off the Kampala to Mbale road safety awareness trek under the theme “Too Young to Die”.
The long-awaited walk was flagged off by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa in a function held at the Independence Monument in Kampala.
While addressing the press before flagging Beyanga, Tayebwa lauded the group for keeping time before urging Ugandan drivers to be cautious on the road. Joe Walker and friends arrived at the monument at 6am ahead of the official flag-off at 6:30am.
“I think one of the biggest causes of road accidents and traffic jam is because we don’t respect time. Why I came to support my brother Joe is because the cause he is on is for all of us. Recently I lost my brother-in-law in an accident, you know we lost our brother Hon. Okabe and wife and very many people we might not know,” Tayebwa said.
Tayebwa, who said VIP officials are partly to blame for the increasing road crashes supported the cause with Shs5 million. He further lauded KFM and other sponsors for believing in Joe Walker.
The group is expected to finish the walk in at least six days while undertaking various activities like painting zebra crossings and doing road safety sensitization.
“Joe Walker and friends are this year going to Mbale, and why are we going to Mbale this time? If you look at Uganda, we have two of the most deadly highways,” Beyanga said adding that the Kampala to Mbale highway which is the eastern route is the most deadly, followed by the Kampala Masaka to Mbarara highway.
“We want to go to Mbale because we want to highlight that,” Beyanga said.
