Uganda’s Road Safety Push Puts Bus Insurance and Lending in Focus

An insurance payout of 20 million Ugandan shillings can leave families facing a vast gap after a fatal road crash. Paul Kavuma, chief executive of Liberty General Insurance Uganda, described claims involving several widows and children but only that amount available under the policy. His point was a business warning as well as a human one: insurance cannot replace the work of keeping passengers alive.

That challenge is at the centre of Liberty General’s SMART Journeys Initiative, launched in Kampala for the long-haul commercial transport sector, according to Nile Post Uganda (direct). The gathering brought together transport ministry officials, traffic police, bus operators, drivers, insurers, financial institutions and safety advocates. Participants called for responsibility to be shared across those groups rather than left to drivers alone.

Safety moves into the insurance checklist

SMART covers safe speed, maintenance, alert drivers, responsible loading and transport risk management—the planning and controls used to reduce transport-related losses. Kavuma said the campaign would promote driver training, vehicle inspections, incident reporting, data sharing and better management of fleet risks. Liberty General is prepared to support defensive-driving training for bus operators. He said the launch comes ahead of a recurring period of heavier traffic and more crashes, which he identified as September through February.

The insurer also wants safety commitments to carry more weight in commercial motor insurance arrangements. Kavuma called for bus owners and driver representatives to respect safety conditions, backed by the transport ministry and the insurance regulator, with compliance checked when business is written. He urged operators to scrutinise tyres and brakes and plan rest stops on long journeys. Rising claims also put insurers under financial strain, he said, because high loss ratios—the level of claims relative to premiums—make profitability harder.

A crash can become a credit problem

For Stanbic Bank, the exposure extends beyond a damaged vehicle. Kenneth Kawalya, its head of credit for business and commercial banking, said crashes can interrupt operations, weaken loan repayments and increase credit risk, the possibility that borrowers will not repay. He argued that financing decisions should focus on the cash a bus can generate, not simply its purchase value. Operators should document maintenance, carry out daily checks, hire qualified drivers and retain service records, he said.

“The safest fleet is also the most bankable fleet.” — Kenneth Kawalya, Stanbic Bank

Kawalya also called for continuing checks on repayments, annual insurance renewals and vehicle condition. His message was that lenders, operators, insurers and regulators cannot manage transport risks separately. Maria Namusoke, managing director of Mark Investments, made a similar business case: crashes can cost operators vehicles, revenue and customers, while disrupting the banks that depend on their loan repayments. Some transport businesses never recover, she said.

Sam Mbambanza, executive director of Safe Transport and Survivors Support Uganda, shifted attention to decisions made before departure. Tight schedules, exhausted drivers and poor tyres can create danger before a journey begins, he said. He advocated a safe-system approach: accepting that people make mistakes while designing operations so those mistakes do not cost lives. Rested drivers and checks on tyres, brakes and steering were among his priorities.

The next test is whether the campaign turns those appeals into routine practice. Liberty General’s proposed training support, journey planning and insurance compliance checks put operators’ daily decisions in focus. With festive-season travel expected to rise, the challenge identified at the launch is to protect passengers while keeping transport businesses—and the institutions financing and insuring them—on firmer ground.