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Road equipment that Prime minister, Robinah Nabbanja handed over to 14 new districts.
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The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, has handed over road equipment to fourteen new districts to enable them to maintain community access roads.
The equipment, including a motor grader and a wheel loader, allotted to each district cost Sh34.6b and was procured using funds provided by the government through the ministry of works and transport.
However, the ministry needs extra sh30b to buy additional equipment to make it a complete road unit for districts. These include a vibrio roller, two dump trucks, and a water bowser.
Nabbanja said that Uganda’s national road network currently stands at 159,364 km, of which about 138,142 km, representing 86.9%, are located within the district, urban, and Community Access Road (DUCAR) network.
She said the roads facilitate the movement of people, goods, labour, resources, and products to create market opportunities for both consumers and producers.
“The importance of this DUCAR network cannot therefore be overemphasised since many ordinary citizens use these roads to access markets, schools, hospitals, and other social services,” she said.
The Prime Minister addressed district teams and legislators on the physical infrastructure committee at the ministry head office along Old Port Bell Road in Kampala. on Wednesday. State Ministers Fred Byamukama (Works) and Obiga Kania (Urban Development) attended.
The beneficiary districts include Bugweri, Kalaki, Kapelabyong, Kalenga, Kassanda, Kitagwenda, and Kazo. Others are Kwania, Kikuube, Madi-Okollo, Nabilatuk, Obongi, Rwampara, and Terego.
Nabbanja said that despite the strides made so far in the provision of road infrastructure, a ‘sizeable percentage of Uganda’s road infrastructure is in a poor state and a lot more needs to be done.
“For example, only 69% of the district roads and 50% of the urban roads are in fair to good condition, with some areas not covered by any form of connectivity, and this is especially true for the new districts,” she explained, adding that it has hampered accessibility to social and economic services.
“Roads serve as lifelines, connecting people to markets, schools, healthcare facilities, and other essential services. They facilitate trade, tourism, and investment, driving sustainable development and creating opportunities for all,” she said.
The Prime Minister explained that in June 2014, President Yoweri Museveni decided to re-equip all districts with more robust equipment, including 1,151 pieces of road equipment procured from Japan.
The provision, she said, covered all 121 district local governments and government agencies such as the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the National Enterprises Corporation (NEC), the Ministry’s Force Account, as well as the Zonal Centres.
However, the creation of the new 14 districts between 2017 and 2019 created a gap after the mother districts declined to share the equipment with the new districts.
The minister for works and transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala, decried the lack of funds that hampered efforts to hand over the equipment in one go. He expressed optimism that the balance of the sh30b vibrio roller, two dump trucks, and one water browser would be secured.
“It will not make sense for the districts to have these machines without this remaining equipment,” he explained.
Gen. Katumba, however, warned districts against diverting the equipment to private use or using adulterated fuel, which he said could damage the equipment. He assured them that the supplier, Victoria Equipment Limited, had given a one-year warranty and was willing to travel to the site to provide the required repairs.
Gen. Katumba also revealed that they were currently doing remedial work but were in the final stages of doing a full redesign on the Karuma bridge.
“Because the bridge has outlived its usefulness, it was constructed in 1963, and because of the volume of traffic, we shall do some remedial works to enable people to use it.”.
He explained that the ministry has made a list of 130 bridges throughout the country that need to be worked on once they get the funds.
