Joe Walker: Why I’m trekking to Fort Portal
By David Mujuni After successfully completing two national walks from Kampala to Bushenyi and Mbale in 2022 and 2023 respectively, Joe Walker will embark on his third trek on February 26, 2024. This time, he sets his sights on Fort Portal Tourism City in Western Uganda, leading fellow walking enthusiasts on a 310-kilometer journey to raise awareness about road safety. While raising awareness remains the core purpose, his choice of Fort Portal this year holds deeper meaning. Joe Walker whose official name is Joseph Beyanga recognizes the Kampala-Fort Portal highway's significance in the national road network, highlighting Tooro Kingdom’s scenic beauty as...
How regular walking positively changes lives
The benefits of walking are well documented.A number of studies have showed that walking regularly is one of the most effective ways to a healthy life because, experts say, unlike most other exercises,walking works on all the muscles and organs of the body. But as it turns out, reading research data and hearing real-life testimonies are two different things. Testimonies from Ugandans that walk regularly have revealed that walking is more than exercise. It is meditation, it is massage, it is an aphrodisiac, it is a path to weight loss and it heals not just the body but the soul...
Kampala Hill to Hill Walk: A tale of road safety awareness, physical and mental triumph
By David Mujuni The distance was 45km. The time to depart was 6am on Saturday June 17, 2023. The route would see the team walking from the starting point at Sheraton Hotel Parking, through the town, onto Bugolobi, then to Makindye, over to Namirembe, then to Wandegeya and back to the hotel parking. This was yet another activity that Mr Joseph Beyanga commonly known as Joe Walker was going to do as part of his efforts to raise awareness about the increasing road crashes in Uganda. The Kampala Hill-to-Hill walk presented another opportunity for the walkers to spread the road safety...
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...
Preparation for the Kampala to Mbale road safety walk starts
This week is the start of a hard, hectic, nerve-wrecking four weeks ahead of the #JoeWalker Kampala-to-Mbale road safety walk #TooYoungToDie. Why? On Monday I started on the physical preparation; this comes with a detailed training program that includes cross-training, simulated walks, hill repeats, tempo walks and much more. From my experience of the Kampala-to-Bushenyi walk, when you prepare the body very well, you will have a better and more enjoyable walking experience. I enjoyed the adrenaline-drenched Bushenyi walk and I am looking for a better experience on the purpose-driven Kampala-to-Mbale road safety walk. The route planner says the terrain to Mbale looks...