Masaka Town road to finally get facelift

Masaka.

A bumpy rough road welcomes you from Total Highway Roundabout via Nyendo suburb as you enter Masaka Town.
From the roundabout, the potholes on the road are not any different from those on feeder roads in most remote areas. The road is also so narrow that two lorries or buses cannot bypass each other safely.
However, this will soon be history after Masaka Municipality authorities got a green light from the central government to use some funds under the World Bank-funded Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) programme to fix part of the 13.43km road.

Minister’s letter
In a May 4 letter, the minister for Works and Transport, Ms Monica Azuba Ntege, grants permission to the municipality to work on two of the three sections of the road, which government will not be in position to reconstruct. “I note with concern the poor state of the three Masaka Municipality roads and they are the busiest and commend your efforts on having them worked on, including considering the use of USMID additional financing,” the minister’s letter reads in part.
“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to grant Masaka Municipality permission to do the works on Nyendo-Cathedral Road and Villa Maria Road. This will be under the technical guidance from the Ministry of Works and Transport,” the letter reads in part.
Under this arrangement, Broadway, which connects Total Highway filling station through Masaka Town to Kijjabwemi roundabout, will be handled by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). Broadway is 7.7km, Nyendo Villa Road is 2km, while Nyendo-Cathedral road is 4km long.
According to the mayor, Mr Godfrey Kayemba Afaayo, the council will soon convene and endorse the project. “We want to start working on this road in the shortest time possible using the $20m (Shs74b), which is part of the funds allocated for USMID projects,” Mr Kayemba said in an interview on Friday.

Move welcomed
He said the municipality could have rehabilitated the road much earlier like it has done on other roads in the town but it falls among the roads managed by UNRA.
Mr Kayemba commended government for granting them the permission, adding that although Masaka Municipality was allowed to work on only two of the three sections of the road, the same government would grant them permission to complete the remaining part.
However, Mr Michael Nakumusana, the chairperson Nyendo-Sennyange Division; expressed fear that government may completely relegate its reasonability to work on the road in future once the municipality takes it over.
“So, the mayor and his council have the obligation to pressure government to meet its responsibilities than misusing the opportunities given to us by donors,” he said.