Participants brave rain to complete 60km Remembrance Walk
By David Mujuni
Participants in the Joe Walker Remembrance Road Safety Walk defied many odds on Sunday November 19th, when they completed the 60-kilometre walk aimed at honouring road crash victims. The walkers converged as early as 5:30am at UMA, Lugogo in Kampala ahead of the memorable relay walk spearheaded by road safety advocate Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker.
Fired up for the task, several teams composed of six people fronted their starting members who were given batons that they held onto for 10 kilometres before handing them over to the next teammate.
The first group hit the road at about 6am using the Nakawa-Ntinda-Northern Bypass route until Bethany High School in Naalya where they handed over the batons to the next teammates. It was at this point when it started raining (at around 8am), that some members increased their pace while others weighed the odds on pausing.
Statements such as “Keep walking guys, we’re almost finishing this” from Joe Walker kept many going even when their faith was tested by the slippery Northern Bypass due to the Sunday morning downpour.
The second group went all the way to Bweyogerere before returning to finish their 10km at the Ntinda-Kisaasi roundabout along the Northern Bypass. The third group used the Kulambiro Ring Road through Kisaasi and Bahai Temple area before connecting to the Northern Bypass to finish their task at the flyover at Kyebando amid the second and heavier downpour.
At about 1pm, the fourth group hit the road heading to the Busega roundabout where the next members picked batons before finishing at Wandegeya traffic lights in Kampala. The last route, which some participants described as the most challenging, covered areas of Wandegeya, Kampala Central, and Kololo, and had UMA, Lugogo as the finishing point. The said route had several curves and walkers were not allowed to use some streets in a bid to cover their 10km task.
Throughout these routes, the Joe Walker team placed guides at various points who helped to direct walkers as well as serve them with refreshments with sugars (including sugarcane, apples, and bananas) to energise them as well as water.
One of the guides who helped to direct walkers
Besides the Joe Walker walking clubs, the walk was graced by several prominent figures including motivational Speaker Ethan Musolini, KFM’s Brian Mulondo, Doreen Nasasira, Emeka The Romantic Mukiga, Becky Nantale as well as Dembe FM’s Kasuku, among other fitness fanatics.
Walkers pose for a group photo after the 60km Remembrance Walk
Team Kisoboka emerged as the winners of the relay walk followed by First Class and Great Trek while Mr John Ssembogo and Ms Anita Komukama were named fastest walkers amongst men and women respectively.
Joe Walker, who covered 60.64 kilometres in 9:17:59 hours attributes the success of the walk to teamwork.
“We joined the world to remember the victims of road traffic crashes and also asked for action to stop the madness. We joined hands in a 60km relay walk, 24 teams of 6 people each walking 10km to show the power of teamwork; together we can achieve the possible to make our roads safe and save lives,” Joe Walker said in a post shared on his official X platform.
See you on the next walk!
