DAY TEN: JOE WALKER IN GULU
On Wednesday 5th March 2025, waltzing to Odong Romeo’s Yoo Leng, we landed in Gulu. Beaten and exhausted but high on adrenaline of crossing the finishing line, we jumped and danced like teens at the end of year kandake. After a few photos at the Elephant, we were joined by pupils of Gulu Baptist Primary School and a team of our partners from Responsive Drivers Uganda, and Pride Microfinance. Together we marched through the city to Gulu Post Office the last point of our walk. From there we proceeded to Gang Kal Madit where we were officially welcomed to Acholi by officials of Ker Kwaro Acholi.
We exchanged ideas on how we can work together to make our road safe and save lives more particularly on the issue of driver behaviour. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Planning and Investment, Martin Okumu, representing the Paramount Chief pledged to adopt road safety messages and drive the campaigns in all their engagements.
As we rolled back to Layibi to paint a zebra crossing at Gulu Baptist Primary school, I couldn’t help but admire the infrastructure; Gulu has some of the best urban roads in Uganda. Even the streets are clean. We now need to eliminate a few bad manners from the users like buses loading and offloading passengers on the streets, boda riders parking on pedestrian walkways and some vendors displaying their merchandise on some streets.
Back to Layibi, as we started working on the zebra crossing, I noticed the highway is really narrow or put differently designed only for vehicles; there are no provisions for either cyclists or pedestrians. This area has many schools, people walking in and out of the city plus loads of boda riders. While painting the zebra crossing strip, Mzee Peter Owori Obong was overjoyed saying this intervention will save many lives and make the road a bit safe for especially school children. Drivers and riders, please respect the zebra crossing and protect vulnerable road users.
Exhausted and knocked out, we retired for the day. The following day started at St Mary’s Lacor Hospital where Dr. Godfrey Ojok Kingston, the Director Community Health services said road crashes account for the second highest number of admissions at the hospital and year after year the situation is getting worse. The story in the trauma and surgical wards is more appalling. It’s one thing to hear the numbers, but a very different story when you see the victims. They range from children to teens, from adults to seniors. Listening to their stories is heart breaking. Maybe we should adopt community service as one of the punishments for the speeding offense and then sentence the offenders to work in trauma wards for a week.
As you walk out of the hospital, a few things hit you straight away. Lacor trading center is getting busier. Boda bodas and passenger tuk-tuks park right opposite the gate. On top of a big hospital and a training institute, there are also a few schools around. Nimule road is a highway by intent, design and signage. But what about the hospital, schools and trading center? Well we made a contribution and painted a zebra crossing. This road however needs more speed barriers and other measures to make it safe for the community and all road users not just speeding vehicles.
The #JoeWalker Kampala to Gulu road safety awareness walk was tough, hot and long but worth it. Safe roads save lives.
