Joe Walker set for Kampala road safety drive
By David Mujuni Road safety advocate Mr Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker is set to walk again in another road safety awareness drive. Mr Beyanga has announced that he will be hitting the road for a 45km road safety awareness walk come June 17, 2023, in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. He made the revelation during a road safety awareness Twitter space hosted by Hovita on Tuesday evening. “We are doing Kampala walk on 17th June, Hill to Hill 45 kilometres. We are doing all this for road safety. We have activities like painting zebra crossings, visiting the victims of road crashes, and...
Joe Walker, Minister Kabuye headline Car-free Day
By David Mujuni In a bid to reduce air pollution, road safety champion, Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker alongside State Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan affairs, Mr. Kabuye Kyofatogabye led a group of walkers as Uganda held a car-free day in Kampala on Sunday March 26, 2023 under the theme "road safety and air quality." Minister Kyofatogabye who was among those who preferred riding to walking highlighted the need for encouraging non-motorized corridors. “Can you imagine without police people managed to organize themselves?” Kyofatogabye said, adding that if the use of non-motorised corridors was encouraged and people observed the cycling...
Joe Walker commended by Jubilee Allianz
Joe Walker and friends were on Thursday, March 9th, commended and appreciated for the walk to Mbale, by Jubilee Allianz at the Railway Grounds in Kampala, where the company was participating in the Annual Insurance Week. In a campaign dubbed #TooYoungtoDie, Joseph Beyanga (commonly known as Joe Walker), with his friends and colleagues walked over 240km to Mbale to raise awareness about road safety. Jubilee Allianz was one of the sponsors of the walk and provided the team with Shs5 million to cater for logistics and educational materials, something that Joe Walker said was a big boost to the campaign. “Thank you...
Kampala to Mbale walk: What we saw, heard and how to make our roads safer
The #JoeWalker Kampala to Mbale trek was a different challenge from what we had done earlier. It was a shorter route, but a rough road for half the journey, and had more reckless drivers and harsher weather conditions. It also had however, rich and insightful engagements. Pedestrians As we streamed out of Nakawa eastwards, we were embarking on a rough unfriendly road that would be our cup of tea for the next 125km till we got to Tirinyi Road. With more people walking than cars on the road, the experience of a pedestrian on most of our roads is still a nightmare....
Day Two: Memories of the past informing what we need for the future
It threatened to be a long and brutal journey today with 45km plus to cover in such a short time. So we set off very early. By 5.55am we were out of the door and on the road. Our first brief stop-off for a cup of tea to warm us up was at Bannz Café where we met several people, including escorts of VIPs who said they were following the walk keenly. It made me hope that people are picking the message on road safety. Before we got there however, what struck me was seeing many parents along taking their children...
DAY ONE: High Energy and awesome time management
It was 5:15pm when we were done and docked at Namataba for the night. The weather was good and made it tempting to roll on but it would be suicide. Our advance team wouldn’t be able to find suitable and affordable accommodation 10km ahead and neither could we risk walking into the deep of the night through Mabira forest. The day started with awesomeness, something very rare of our government officials. At exactly 6:00am, the Deputy Speaker’s advance team was at the Independence Monument, the venue for the flag-off. At 6:15am, they announced that Rt. Hon. Tayebwa would be with us...
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...
Deputy Speaker Tayebwa to flag off Kampala-Mbale walk
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa will on Monday, February 6, 2023, flag off the Kampala-Mbale road safety awareness walk at the Independence Monument in Kampala. Under the theme “Joe Walker and Friends – Too Young To Die”, the walk is spearheaded by Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker, the Head of Radio at Nation Media Group – Uganda and Secretary-General, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). We believe the walk is more than just a walk due to the pool of activities lined up including road user sensitization and road safety education and awareness through, community interactions, school visits, media...
Day Four: Curious case of Joe walker
Today I missed my training. No I am not the lazy type. I just felt low on energy and actually fought so hard to leave my training kit behind when I left home in the morning. Look, I didn’t sleep well, been battling what Dr. Kasenene calls Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and my body has been working overtime to cleanse itself for the last four days. I the ought pushing it for a hard training day wouldn’t be a wise move. So I visited the good doctor and on top of many things, we had a look at my numbers and also worked...
Day Two: Power of friendship, synergies and collaboration
My training plan has a 16.8km walk on certain days. So on one of those days, feeling geared and pumped up, I stepped out of Sheraton Gym literally floating in space and pursing my personal best over a 16km distance. A kilometre into my walk, I bumped into Counsel Isaac Mpanga, a man double my body size but high on triple inspiration and drive to get fitter, than teenagers. It was my first physical meeting with Isaac, we normally meet and chat on the social media streets but now here we were. I decided to drop my ambition, and he...