Accident fatalities declined between 2019 – 2023
• BY MARX ITAMALO
Deputy Prime Minister John Mutorwa said there had been a significant decrease in fatalities compared to the number of crashes between 2019 and 2023.
Mutorwa said that road crashes have reduced by around 4%, from 18% in 2019 to 14% in 2023. Similarly, he stressed that fatalities have been on a downward trend, recording a 30% reduction from 609 in 2019 to 423 in 2023.
Mutorwa spoke at the official opening of the 9th Annual Road Safety Conference, which took place from 10 – 12 July 2024 at Ongwediva in the Oshana region. Stakeholders in the transport sector attended the conference, as did leaders in the security sector and political and traditional leaders, among others.
The deputy Prime Minister also indicated that according to available data, the fatalities per 10,000 vehicles have reduced by 32% from 15.2 in 2019 to 10.3 in 2023.
On the other hand, he says injuries per 100,000 population have also reduced by 59% from 250.5 in 2019 to 101.5 in 2023.
Mutorwa stressed that the Annual National Road Safety Conference is the yardstick that Namibia, as a nation, can use to gauge its level of implementation and progress attained during the implementation of the 2nd Namibian Chapter of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 – 2030. “Looking back at the performance of the first Decade that ended in 2020, we can observe considerable changes in the performance of the sub – sector, in terms of key performance areas.
For improved execution of the Strategy’s Action plan, we have to apply our minds to identify areas within the strategy where interventions are needed the most and focus on those areas for maximum possible outcomes,” he pointed out.
Mutorwa said Namibian being mindful of the target it has set for itself in the 2ndDecade of Action plan for Road Safety Strategy 2021 – 2023, the execution of activities, programmes and projects by all executing agencies and stakeholders should be in such a way as to propel the country of its intended objective. “As a nation, and as stakeholders in this subsector, we need to measure and improve where necessary, this I am emphasizing in line with the theme adopted for this year’s conference that speaks to improvement in the management of road safety performance,” he noted whilst adding that Road Safety being multi-sectoral, it must be tackled by all stakeholders such as both government, private sector and civil society.
The minister also indicated that all executing agencies need to show more ownership of the assigned roles and responsibilities besides signing cooperation agreements. “To ensure that Namibian road safety efforts are in line with international best practices, continuous research and benchmarking are necessary for building a proper body of knowledge for the sub-sector. Policies, regulations and laws must be aligned to current trends for them to be effective,” he advised. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the utilization of motor vehicles enables mobility and promotes socio-economic progression on a global scale.
However, according to the WHO, on an annual basis, motor vehicles are implicated in crashes and incidents that result in millions of fatalities and injuries. He added that low- and middle-income countries, which account for about 60 per cent of the world’s motor vehicles, are responsible for 93 per cent of road deaths annually.