Is it really possible that the title of this blog is true? How can a stop theft class save a life?

If you have been reading the news recently you might know one way – if you don’t steal you don’t get killed in the act. At least five people have died as a result of shoplifting from Wal-Mart stores. As reported in www.newvision.co.ug.

However, I am talking about the theft of street signs in Uganda, Africa. There have been many cases of theft of street signs and many people have died. It appears there is a high demand for road-rails and signposts, both for local and external use, causing vandals to rip them off roads across the country. Some of the newly-constructed roads, especially those in the western region, have become death traps. Several accidents are registered there every year.

The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) is now warning that if the trend is not checked in time, the lives of both the pedestrians and motorists could be at risk.

Police know that some of the stolen items, such as street lighting poles, road signs, guard rails and electricity meter boxes, end up in some of the industries in Kampala and Jinja. Here, they are smelted and turned into steel strands, carbon iron wire, galvanized sheets, nails, steel beams and pipes.

We will look at this issue in more detail in future blogs.