Africa-Press – Uganda. Ms Charlotte Kangume lost her leg after being involved in an accident on January 26, 2018 while returning from a party.
Despite the accident happening six years ago, the memories remain fresh to Ms Kangume that she narrates the ordeal like it happened yesterday.
“I was returning home from a party at around 2am when our car got stuck in a trench,” she said in an interview.
She added: “Someone came to help us but unfortunately, the driver over accelerated and since I was tired and standing on the sides, the car jerked forward onto my leg and that is how I lost it.”
Kangume has now co-founded Amputee Self-Help Network Uganda, an organisation which brings together amputee ladies.
She says they have decided to paint critical areas on the Old Bridge in Jinja City because it is mostly used by motorcycles.
“Our organisation started small, but right now, we are in thousands of people, with the biggest number having got involved in boda boda accidents,” she said.
She further explained that she strongly advocates for not drinking and driving, adding that they are in Buikwe and Jinja, having started at Kampala Post Office.
Ms Sonia Kyoshaba, who also survived an accident in May 2021 as she was returning to her hostel, says a vehicle overtook another and they ended up knocking her to the ground.
“At the time of the accident, I was at Kyambogo University in my Second Year, but since then, movement and changing classes became difficult for me and I couldn’t make it.
“It is not like my dreams were shattered. I am still working so hard and I know I will get there, but let me advise those who are always on their phones while driving that it is not good,” she said.
Mr Chris Tendo says he has worked with a number of those who have lost limbs by partnering, adding that they use the funds collected from these initiatives to support the amputees by buying prosthetic legs and emergency surgeries, and creating awareness.
Haruna Bukenya, a boda boda rider at Nile Stage, says: “The problem with driving on Ugandan roads is that everyone thinks they are cleverer than the other yet if we are all tolerant, accident rates will come down.”
The 2023 traffic report on accidents indicated an increase in road crashes, especially boda bodas, with their death toll increasing by 30 per cent to 4,179 in 2023, up from 3,210 in 2022.
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