Speaker of Parliament Anita Among
The Speaker of Parliament has tasked the government to quickly table before the House an incident report on the fuel tanker explosion that devastated Kigogwa Trading Centre on the Kampala-Gulu highway on Tuesday.
The northbound tanker overturned before bursting into flames that engulfed the area, destroying several shops that included hardware, stationery, salons, and eateries, worth millions of shillings.
Kigogwa lies some 25.5 kilometres or one-hour drive away on the Kampala-Gulu highway. The police yesterday said the death toll from the inferno had risen to 15, with 24 other people fighting for their lives in hospitals and clinics.
Ms Anita Among, in her opening statement during a plenary session that commenced at 10am yesterday, expressed sympathies for the victims and those still nursing injuries from the fire.
“Such incidents point to the need to sensitise our locals on public safety during such incidents. We condole with the bereaved families and pray that the Lord comforts them,” Ms Among said.
Her directive resonated with the plea by Erute South MP Jonathan Odur to the government to carry out comprehensive investigations into the tragic incident.
He said: “What if somebody deliberately opened the fuel to spill over and lit the fire? Accidents happen in this country; I don’t know why they are investigated and the reports are held in secrecy and we allow the public to keep guessing what happened.”
Mr Odur and other legislators demanded that the investigations look into the quality of trucks that ferry fuel across the country.
He added: “For one to transport fuel, there are standards that must be met to take care of even extreme conditions of accidents that even when the tanker falls, it becomes very difficult for the fuel to spill out.”
Speaker Among agreed with the Erute South MP. “I think he is right, we really need a comprehensive report on that incident,” she said.
Mr Hamson Obua, the Government Chief Whip, promised to deliver the directive to the relevant ministries, although no specific time frame was given.
“From the spirit of the debate, there are three ministries that should come and brief Parliament on the issues that members are raising. They will be charged with the responsibility of investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident,” Mr Obua told Parliament.
He added: “I would suggest that the Ministry of Internal Affairs that is charged with the responsibility of investigations give us their preliminary findings from what has happened.”
Mr Obua also tasked the ministries of Works and Transport, Energy and Internal Affairs to take the lead in investigations.
In a similar tone, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, pleaded for support to families affected by the inferno.
“I would also like to call upon the government; let us help these people as expeditiously as we can. Many have died, many are in hospital, let us support them. An accident happened, we hope the investigation report comes out quickly, but let us support those people,” Mr Ssenyonyi said.
In the meantime, Ms Ethel Betty Naluyima, the Wakiso District Woman MP, suggested that the movement of the fuel trucks be restricted to only night hours to minimise similar tragedies.
“Let us have continuous campaigns on how to handle road accidents, especially those that involve fuel trucks because this incident could have been prevented if people were made aware of the perils; unfortunately, they dashed to collect the spilled fuel,” she added.
Ms Naluyima also proposed to have the Police Fire Brigade stationed at different stations countrywide. “We can’t rely only on Kampala Fire Station because it took over one-and-half hours for the police fire brigade to negotiate their way to the scene,” she said.
