Uganda’s worsening road safety crisis is attracting renewed support from the private sector, with Centenary Bank committing UGX 100 million to road safety awareness campaigns and the expansion of the Accident and Trauma Centre at Nkozi Hospital.
The contribution comes at a time when road crashes continue to claim thousands of lives each year, placing growing pressure on the country’s healthcare system and highlighting the need for both prevention and improved emergency response.
The funding was announced during the launch of the 2026 Kaliisoliiso Dinner Concert at Nkozi Hospital. Organised annually by CBS FM in partnership with the Buganda Kingdom and other stakeholders, the initiative raises funds for the hospital’s trauma centre while promoting responsible road use through the Labuka Road Safety Programme.
According to the 2025 Uganda Police Annual Crime Report, road traffic crashes rose to 26,044 in 2025 from 25,107 the previous year, a 3.7 percent increase. The number of fatalities also climbed to 5,383 from 5,144 in 2024, meaning an average of at least 15 people lose their lives on Ugandan roads every day.
Those statistics have reinforced concerns among policymakers, health professionals and road safety advocates that Uganda must invest not only in safer roads and stricter enforcement of traffic laws but also in trauma care facilities capable of treating crash victims quickly.
Nkozi Hospital occupies a strategic position along the busy Kampala-Masaka highway, one of Uganda’s busiest transport corridors. The hospital regularly receives victims of road crashes occurring along the route, making its proposed Accident and Trauma Centre an important regional emergency facility.
Speaking during the launch, Centenary Bank General Manager for Corporate Communications and Marketing, Beatrice Lugalambi, said the institution views road safety as a shared national responsibility requiring collaboration between government, cultural institutions, businesses and the public.
She noted that millions of Ugandans travel daily to conduct business, transport agricultural produce, report to work, attend school and visit their families, making safer roads an issue that directly affects economic productivity and household welfare.
Centenary Bank’s latest contribution builds on a decade of support for the project. Since the first fundraising campaign in 2016, the bank has participated in fundraising dinners, marathons, car washes and awareness campaigns aimed at financing the construction of the trauma centre. Its cumulative contribution to the initiative has now exceeded UGX 400 million.
The latest funding also advances a three-year partnership signed in 2025 between Centenary Bank and CBS FM to support the Labuka Road Safety Programme. Under the agreement, the bank committed UGX 280 million over three years. Following an initial UGX 80 million contribution last year, this year’s funding raises its contribution under the partnership to UGX 180 million.
Road safety experts have increasingly argued that reducing Uganda’s road crash burden requires a combination of public education, improved enforcement, safer road infrastructure and stronger emergency medical services.
Investments in trauma centres are considered particularly important because the first hours after a serious crash often determine whether victims survive or suffer permanent disabilities.
For Uganda’s corporate sector, road safety is also emerging as an economic issue. Traffic crashes disrupt businesses, destroy productive assets, increase healthcare costs and reduce workforce productivity, creating significant economic losses beyond the immediate human tragedy.
The 2026 Kaliisoliiso Dinner Concert, scheduled for September 11 at Hotel Africana in Kampala, is expected to bring together government officials, private sector leaders, development partners and members of the public to mobilise additional resources for the trauma centre and sustain national road safety awareness efforts.