Faridah Namyalo, who developed a mental disorder after a Bodaboda knocked her only son to death has been found dead at Old Taxi Park in Kampala. Namyalo had only one child whom she reportedly often moved with wherever she would go but her only treasure was taken away by a Bodaboda rider barely two years ago.
The gruesome ending of her son’s life devastated Namyalo and she withdrew from her relatives including friends in Masajja, Makindye Ssabagabo, in the Wakiso district. Her mother who lives in Masaka and other relatives reportedly attempted to search for her in vain.
Even though Namyalo had a home in Masajja, she chose to start living in the coldness at Old Taxi where she reportedly often told people that life had lost meaning without her son. But today morning, the Kampala Capital City Authority -KCCA cleaners found her dead.
The deceased’s mother identified as Aminah who has talked to police on phone from Masaka said her daughter’s life drastically changed with the sudden killing of her only child by the Bodaboda rider. The mother said she attempted to search for her daughter but she did not succeed.
“My daughter became mentally sick the moment she buried her son. She left this place almost mad and she has never returned. I did not know where she was living because she did not tell anyone and had a telephone. It is sad my daughter has died soon after I buried my grandson,” the teary Aminah told police on phone.
Patrick Onyango, the Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson said they were able to call Aminah after seeing a notebook that was with Namyalo containing contacts of all her relatives starting with that of her mother.
“The mother said her daughter had never regained consciousness since she buried her son killed by the Bodaboda accident. She had been sleeping at Old Taxi Park but her National ID shows she was a resident of Masajja, Makindye Ssabagabo. We have taken the body for a post-mortem,” Onyango said.
Traffic police records of last year show 1,390 Bodaboda riders crashed to death while 512 passengers on such means of transport also perished. Even the 1,384 pedestrians who died last year, the majority were crashed by Bodabodas. This means Bodabodas might have accounted for over 60 percent of 4,152 deaths recorded on Ugandans roads last year.
A study conducted by Safe Way Right Way (SWRW) on behalf of Road Safety Coalition Uganda (ROSACU) indicated that most of the passengers crash to death because of not wearing crash helmets. In a bid to minimize road deaths emanating from Bodaboda crashes, road safety advocates subscribing to ROSACU proposed a policy that would compel motorcycle dealers (sellers) to sell each with at least two crash helmets. This was after interviewing a huge number of Bodaboda riders and noticing that majority of them had helmets because they came along with the bikes.
Early this week, traffic police spokesperson, ASP Faridah Nampiima, released crash statistics for October 1 -29 showing 257 people had perished while more than 900 survived with serious injuries. ASP Nampiima emphasized that the majority of the deaths and serious injuries involved Bodabodas. In response, traffic police have announced a crackdown on errant Bodaboda riders starting on Monday next week.
Yesterday, Jalia Nakiboneka, a law student at Law Development Centre -LDC Lira Campus lost her life when a reckless Bodaboda rider attempted to overtake a Mercedes Benz truck and, in the process, the passenger fell under its tyres and she was gruesomely reduced to pieces.