Many Ugandan minds are intrigued by the rate at which people are dying in road accidents, especially on the highways.
Several factors have been touted as the cause, including poor road designs, reckless driving, and corrupt traffic police officers.
The one that has refused to go away is witchcraft and blood sacrifice. In many African societies, there is a belief that for any construction to take place successfully, the gods must be appeased with some blood.
If this is not done then the gods angrily take care of themselves by ‘harvesting’ those who they came across on the project. There is usually a particular place on a road which serves as the ‘collection centre’ for the human and animal blood.
These are what the traffic police call ‘black spots’; they include sharp bends, railway and animal crossings, etc. Many hold prayers at these points to break ‘the bondage of the devil’. These are all peripheral arguments that don’t go to the core of the problem.
For the last two weekends, I have driven out of Kampala on two major highways. The mind was specifically focused on the habits and mentality of drivers and riders. I have come to the conclusion that Uganda’s road carnage is the state of the nation’s corrupt mentality.
A corrupt society is one where personal achievement at the expense of the advancement of society is the number one goal. Established rules have to be broken in this pursuit of personal success and that becomes ingrained in an individual.
That is a contradiction because for a society and a civilization to endure and advance, the majority must submit themselves to common rules, laws and regulations that apply equitably to all and sundry.
A progressive society must encourage and work out mechanisms to ensure there is a culture where the majority voluntarily submit themselves to the law. Abiding by the law must be a way of life, whether one is being watched on not.
People in that society must appreciate and understand that it is for their wellbeing that they obey the law. Those who opt out of this realm must be punished to put them on course and also to act as an example to those who may be tempted to think of law-breaking as a convenient way of life. Anything less than this is a recipe for disaster.
This is what has happened to our roads. On the Ugandan road, one would be excused for thinking that there is no law in this country. When a driver who lives most of his life breaking the law hits the road, he will never think of abiding by traffic laws.
It never even occurs to them that the law is there to safeguard their lives and vehicles. That is why most accidents occur when overtaking in corners or on top of climbing lanes. Drivers never understand that their visibility of oncoming traffic is limited at such points. They simply stretch their luck like they test the system elsewhere.
Many endanger their lives when they drive on the shoulder of the road, meaning they overtake on the left (which is the ‘blind side’ of the driver being overtaken,) simply because they are used to exploiting ‘loopholes’.
They create multiple lanes, blocking oncoming traffic so you all end up seated for long hours without either side moving.
That is how corruption stagnates society, by not keeping to a single lane where it is first come first serve. Individuals may appear to make progress in the short run; overtaking their peers by jumping queues and cutting corners. But in the long run, they suffer because at some point they need a fallback position that can only be provided by society.
That is how very rich people with lovely houses and cars have ended up dying in hospitals without drugs and doctors. That is how people live in homes with paved driveways but drive on roads with potholes.
The sad story of the road is exactly that. Many times, the fast movement of an individual, acts as an impediment to the rest of the road users, because he applies his own rules.
Often times, that individual goes down with several others when he stretches the law to breaking point.
The Ugandan road is the meeting point and the melting pot of corrupt minds that don’t think correctly.
Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. nicholassengoba@yahoo.com
Twitter: @nsengoba
0 comments:
Post a Comment