The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Dear Honorable Members of Parliament.
A young man was knocked down by a boda boda. His family and close-knit extended community, despite their own struggles, rallied together, fundraised tirelessly, and did everything in their power to save him. But it was not enough. He died. He was buried two days ago.
His story is one of bitter irony. He came from an impoverished family but defied the odds, becoming their first university graduate, a lawyer, no less. He was meant to be a symbol of hope, proof that with determination, one could rise above hardship. Instead, he has become yet another statistic in Uganda’s growing epidemic of boda boda fatalities.
And the cruelest irony of all? He was not even on the road. He was on the pavement, as careful as any pedestrian could be, yet death still found him. How safe can anyone truly be in Uganda today?
And yet, on the very day his family was mourning his untimely death, you sat in Parliament discussing how to secure healthcare for former MPs, including treatment abroad and how to fund their burials.
How do you sleep at night?
Uganda’s roads have become killing fields. Boda boda accidents have reached epidemic levels. There is hardly a Ugandan who does not know someone who has been knocked, maimed, or killed by a boda boda. Our hospitals are full of accident victims, our mortuaries are filling up, and our communities are in mourning. Where is Parliament in all this? Have you ever conducted a survey in your constituencies to understand the scale of this crisis?
Or are you too detached from the daily horrors faced by ordinary Ugandans?
You, dear Parliamentarians, may feel safe in your convoys, spared from the daily dangers of Uganda’s roads But do not mistake that for security.
The closest many of you have come to addressing the boda boda crisis is handing out motorcycles during campaigns, treating them as easy gifts to secure votes rather than recognizing their impact on road safety. Have you ever stopped to ask what happens to the men you give these bikes to? How many of them are still alive? How many have left behind widows and orphans?
Do you even understand your role as legislators? Being an MP is not just about securing votes. It is about serving, protecting, and fighting for the welfare of the people who sent you to Parliament. It is about fixing broken systems, not securing privileges for yourselves.
You are so quick to demand state-funded medical treatment and grand burials for former MPs, yet hospitals across the country can not even afford basic emergency care for accident victims. Families are forced to fundraise, beg, and watch their loved ones die because they can not afford treatment.
And now, even as boda boda accidents claim more lives, you have the audacity to sit in Parliament and deliberate on how to ensure that former MPs are flown abroad for treatment while your constituents die at home? Do you not see the hypocrisy?
Instead of insulating yourselves from Uganda’s broken healthcare system, fix it. Instead of spending millions on state burials for former MPs, allocate those funds to emergency care for accident victims. Instead of handing out boda bodas as campaign favours, enforce proper road safety policies to protect both riders and pedestrians.
Parliament should be in emergency crisis meetings right now—not discussing luxury healthcare for former MPs, but addressing the thousands of Ugandans who have been left jobless following USAID’s funding withdrawal. People are struggling. Families are breaking. The healthcare system is failing. And yet, you sit comfortably, discussing your own privileges.
Your job is not to serve yourselves. Your job is to serve the people.
And yet, through it all, you still have the audacity to be called Honorable!
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Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Political Sociologist in Social Development (Alumna – London School of Economics/Political Science) | Email – gkothieno@gmail.com
