KAMPALA, UGANDA: Gonzaga Mugalula has been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of recklessly causing the death of Lands state minister Sam Mayanja’s daughter Belinda Birungi in a road accident last year.
Mugalula was last Friday arraigned before City Hall court grade one magistrate, Edgar Karekire where he was read the charges.
Court heard that on October 28, 2022, while along the Ntinda-Nakawa road in Kampala district, Mugalula recklessly reversed his Scania trailer, registration number, UAZ 822K, and caused the death of Birungi who was a passenger on a boda boda, registration number, UES 772D.
But Mugalula a resident of Namagoma in Wakiso district denied the charges and was sent on remand until April 6 when he will be returning to apply for bail.
According to the Traffic and Road Safety Act 1998 Act 6 (Amendment) Act 2020, a person found guilty of causing death while driving a motor vehicle, trailer or engineering plant recklessly is liable to an imprisonment term not exceeding 10 years.
According to the annual crime report 2022 released a month ago, Uganda registered at least 20,394 cases of road accidents in 2022 compared to 17,443 registered in 2021.
The police said that out of every 100 crashes, 22 people died while 61 per cent of all accidents were as a result of reckless driving.
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