Wednesday, 24th May 2023
Following a presidential directive, government has allocated each district and
municipality Shs1 billion for maintenance of roads outside the Uganda
National Roads Authority (UNRA) jurisdiction.
This was revealed in the report of the Physical Infrastructure Committee on
the policy statement of the Ministry of Works and Transport for 2023/2024
financial year.
The report was presented by the Committee Chairperson, Hon. David
Karubanga on Thursday, 20 April 2023.
The allocation was welcomed by Members of Parliament who said they have
often shouldered the burden of road maintenance.
“The people of Kaberamaido will always remember this Parliament for this
money; we have been getting so little for the 300KM in the district,” Hon.
Alfred Edakasi (NRM, Kaberamaido County) said.
MPs from mountainous constituencies hailed the allocation noting that their
roads are continuously washed away during rainy seasons.
“Some of us come from areas with few kilometres of roads covered by UNRA;
we rely on the little funds given to local governments for maintaining the
roads, and when rains come, the roads in the hilly areas are impassable,”
said Hon. Sarah Netalisire (NRM, Namisindwa District).
The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa clarified that the funds are not meant
for rehabilitation of the tarmac roads but for maintaining the non-tarmacked
ones which are the majority in rural areas.
“Our biggest problem is maintenance of our small roads; that is what we are
appropriating for. Like in my constituency, I don’t have anything to
rehabilitate, we only have our small roads that we need to maintain,”
Tayebwa said.
Tayebwa directed that the funds be disbursed to local governments through
the Uganda Road Fund, the legal entity mandated with supervision and
monitoring of roads under local governments.
He called on legislators to keenly supervise the utilization of the funds saying
it is possible for districts to reallocate them to other areas of their priority.
“What this means is that you must attend the roads committees in your
districts, otherwise that money will be diverted to allowances and other
priorities of the district,” said Tayebwa.
Legislators from new districts complained that the proposed budget has
neglected road construction in their local governments saying they are under
pressure from constituents.
“In Kalungu District, we have one tarmac road of one kilometre that goes to
the church built by an individual. When shall districts with no single tarmac
get at least one road? Let at least one of the main roads in the districts be
tarmacked in the next financial year,” Hon. Joseph Ssewungu (NUP, Kalungu
West County)
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Local gov’ts to get Shs1 billion for roads
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Home News Local gov’ts to get Shs1 billion for roads
Hon. Karubanga
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Wednesday, 24th May 2023
Following a presidential directive, government has allocated each district and
municipality Shs1 billion for maintenance of roads outside the Uganda
National Roads Authority (UNRA) jurisdiction.
This was revealed in the report of the Physical Infrastructure Committee on
the policy statement of the Ministry of Works and Transport for 2023/2024
financial year.
The report was presented by the Committee Chairperson, Hon. David
Karubanga on Thursday, 20 April 2023.
The allocation was welcomed by Members of Parliament who said they have
often shouldered the burden of road maintenance.
“The people of Kaberamaido will always remember this Parliament for this
money; we have been getting so little for the 300KM in the district,” Hon.
Alfred Edakasi (NRM, Kaberamaido County) said.
MPs from mountainous constituencies hailed the allocation noting that their
roads are continuously washed away during rainy seasons.
“Some of us come from areas with few kilometres of roads covered by UNRA;
we rely on the little funds given to local governments for maintaining the
roads, and when rains come, the roads in the hilly areas are impassable,”
said Hon. Sarah Netalisire (NRM, Namisindwa District).
Hon. Netaslisire
The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa clarified that the funds are not meant
for rehabilitation of the tarmac roads but for maintaining the non-tarmacked
ones which are the majority in rural areas.
“Our biggest problem is maintenance of our small roads; that is what we are
appropriating for. Like in my constituency, I don’t have anything to
rehabilitate, we only have our small roads that we need to maintain,”
Tayebwa said.
Tayebwa directed that the funds be disbursed to local governments through
the Uganda Road Fund, the legal entity mandated with supervision and
monitoring of roads under local governments.
He called on legislators to keenly supervise the utilization of the funds saying
it is possible for districts to reallocate them to other areas of their priority.
“What this means is that you must attend the roads committees in your
districts, otherwise that money will be diverted to allowances and other
priorities of the district,” said Tayebwa.
Legislators from new districts complained that the proposed budget has
neglected road construction in their local governments saying they are under
pressure from constituents.
“In Kalungu District, we have one tarmac road of one kilometre that goes to
the church built by an individual. When shall districts with no single tarmac
get at least one road? Let at least one of the main roads in the districts be
tarmacked in the next financial year,” Hon. Joseph Ssewungu (NUP, Kalungu
West County) said.
MPs were also concerned that road construction equipment were left out in
the budget, saying some districts especially the new ones may not utilize the
Shs 1 billion.
“Soroti City nearly returned all its roads money last year because we had to
wait for Soroti District to first finish grading its roads before we could be
given the machinery to work on ours,” said Hon. Jonathan Ebwalu (Indep.,
Soroti West Division).
The State minister for Works, Hon. Musa Ecweru said the 2023/2024 roads
budget is largely focusing on maintenance as directed by the President.
He however, noted that the Cabinet holds the reservation to select a few
special road construction projects that could still be worked on in the new
financial year.
Ecweru said the Works Ministry needs Shs27 billion to be able to tarmac
roads in the new districts.
National
Jinja–Mbulamuti–Kamuli Road: Govt yet to fulfill promise 23 years later
Monday, April 14, 2025
A section of the dusty Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu Road
By Denis Edema
What you need to know:
Project Affected Persons (PAPs) in Jinja, represented by Dr Sam Olam, claim
that the Uganda National Road Authority took their land titles for
compensation verification purposes three years ago, but they are yet to
receive feedback or any compensation.
In 2001, when President Museveni first promised that government will
tarmac the Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu road (simply known as the
amber court road), the Kyabazinga, HRH William Nadiope was still in primary
school, Bujjagali Falls were alive and the biggest falls along the River Nile,
Joseph Kony war was still raging in Northern Uganda, the East African
Community had just been revived, Jose Chameleon’s Mama Mia was the hit
song and this writer, now 23, was only two years old.
“We are looking at tarmacking the Iganga-Bulopa-Kamuli, Kamuli-
Namwendwa-Kaliro, Jinja-Budondo-Mbulamuti-Kamuli roads and another 22
kilometers for roads with in Kamuli town,” President Museveni promised,
while campaigning in Namasanda village, Bugabula south constituency in
Kamuli district in 2001.
The 22 Kilometers of Kamuli were delivered; yet, every year that followed
and every election since then, the works on that road have remained a pipe
dream.
When residents demonstrated in 2013, after twelve years of waiting, they
were shot at.
The message from government about the road has been one: “a contractor
has been procured and works are set to begin soon”. Letters to prove that
message are usually shared around during presidential election campaigns
and months after, including a budget line in the national budget and that is
where it has always ended.
The road has featured in successive budget speeches from 2001 to 2021 and
in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifestos of 2001, 2006, 2011,
2016 and the recent manifesto of 2021.
Right now, the road is hardly navigable. The sugarcane ferrying trucks have
dug gullies in most parts of the road and the rainy season has not helped
matters. If one does not have four wheel raised car, one has to be able to
foot a garage bill after one round trip on the road.
“I think the road has been set aside to be used for campaign gimmicks
because whenever campaigns approach, the promises are renewed only to
be abandoned once the political season subsides,” says Jafari Mulondo a
resident of Bukungu in Buyende district adding that he no longer buys into
what he called the usual rhetoric of politicians concerning the road and will
only believe when the actual road works start.
The road connects the districts of Jinja and Kamuli via Budondo sub-county
and stretches through Mbulamuti, a village and sub-county on the banks of
River Nile to Bukungu in Buyende district. Budondo and Butagaya Sub
Counties where the road passes are the food basket of not only Jinja city but
even Kampala.
This means that the road has a big economic importance. It is also the main
access route to Kyabirwa and Itanda falls on the River Nile. The only
remaining big falls in the region attracting tourists who come for water
sports.
“The Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu road is one of the projects that have
been prioritized for implementation under the National Development
Programme III (NDPIII),” said Mr Allan Ssempebwa, the Uganda National
Roads Authority (UNRA) spokesperson, in a text message to Busoga Today.
He added that he Is optimistic the deal will be sealed this year, “The
procurement of a civil works contractor for the road and Jinja city roads
(10km) is in advanced stages.”
Ms Suzan Kataike, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Works promised the
same.
“The construction process has been divided into two parts; the 65km Jinja-
Mbulamuti-Kamuli road and the 64km Kamuli-Bukungu road in Buyende
District and that each part will be handled by a different contractor.
“The road works will commence immediately after securing contractors and
it will be completed within three years,” she said.
The residents and users of the road hope government will come through this
time.
“Let government fulfill its side of the bargain and develop the road. We get
goods from Budondo but the road is unfavorable and many of our colleagues
have got accidents and some have lost life,” said Ms Kisakye Mariam, a
vendor operating from Ambarcort market.
Isaac Musobya, a taxi driver who plies the route on a daily says working on
the road will cut the time he spends navigating the road by almost a half.
The Kamuli district Chairperson. Mr Maxwell Kuwembula agrees with him.
“The volume of traffic will improve business in the area and the value of land
will also shoot up,” he said.
Mr Moses Batwala, the Jinja District chairperson, said once constructed, the
road will attract more investors to the area who will set up more petrol
stations and hotels because of easy accessibility, adding that the area had
lagged behind because of poor road network.
