The 23-year-wait for Nyendo-Masaka road to be tarmacked

The promise:
Every election cycle brings out at least one major talking point in every region of the country, but for the people in greater Masaka, one major talking point since Uganda first held its direct elections in 1996 has been the Masaka-Nyendo road.
Mr Museveni first made the promise to have the road upgraded from gravel to tarmac in campaigns ahead of the 1996 general election where he faced off with former president general of the Democratic Party (DP), Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, and former leader of the Justice Forum, Mr Kibirige Mayanja.
The promise was made at a time when fish production and exports were at their highest. Figures from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) show that annual fish production then stood at around 219,427.62 tonnes with the Nile Perch alone contributing between 80,000 and 90,000 tonnes, which was a drop from the 130,000 tonnes of Nile Perch that had been caught in 1992. Of that, 20,000 tonnes came from Kachanga, Kizibba, Misonzi, Nkese and Vujja landing sites in Kalangala District and another 5,179 tonnes from Lambu, Ddimu and Namirembe landing sites in Masaka District.
Uganda had, by then, developed several industries which were involved in the export of various fish and fisheries products which brought in $34.6 million in the financial year 1996/1997.
At the same time, the greater Masaka area was still actively involved in the production of an array of food and cash crops such as coffee and matooke. It is also known for grasshoppers, a delicacy for many a folk in central Uganda.
At the same time, Kalangala, the district of 84 Lake Victoria islands, also known as Ssesse Islands, home of the African Grey parrots and unique vegetation and cultural features such as Bukasa Shrine, Luggo forest, home of the Ddamula, a tree from which a sceptre such as stick that is handed to an incoming Katikiro (prime minister) of Buganda as an instrument of power is cut, was fast cutting itself a name as a tourist destination to reckon with.
Against such a background, working on the road made economic sense and it appeared that it would be fixed in the period between then and 2001, but it was not.
It became a major talking point ahead of the 2001 general election with the late MP for Bukoto East, Mr Vincent Kimera, declaring that he would be supporting Col Dr Kizza Besigye’s effort to dislodge Mr Museveni because of the latter’s failure to fulfil his promises to the people of Masaka District.
“The promises I am talking about are in his manifesto of the 1996 campaigns. He even refused to explain to the people why he could not deliver his promises,” declared Mr Kimera as he addressed a civic education seminar at Bwala Social Centre.
Mr Museveni was compelled to reassure the people that it would be done in the period between 2001 and 2006, but just like had been the case in the two terms before and despite having been included in some of the budget documents in some of those years, it was not worked on.
The NRM was compelled to include it in the 2006 manifesto. It was listed along with the Gayaza-Zirobwe-Wobulenzi, Matugga-Semuto- Kapeka, Soroti-Dokolo-Lira, Atiak-Moyo, Kabale-Kisoro-Bunagana/Kyanika and Fort-Portal-Bundibugyo, as the seven national roads that would be upgraded to tarmac in the period between 2006 and 2011.
“Funds for some of the above roads have already been secured, while negotiations for the funding of the remaining roads are in advanced stage of conclusion,” the manifesto read in parts.
That, however, did not translate into any meaningful action on the road and despite routine maintenance by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), the road proved to be a traveller’s nightmare whenever the rains would come.
It would become impassable, causing businesspeople, especially fish, vegetable and fruit dealers immense losses. Trucks carrying their merchandise would often get stuck for hours on end leaving their goods damaged or rotten.
In 2013, the government announced that it had secured a Shs30 billion loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to fund the construction of the road, but that did not happen leaving the community very disappointed.
Like had been the case in the campaigns ahead of the 2001, 2006 and 2011, it became a talking point ahead of the February 2016 general election, prompting the ruling NRM to once again include it in the 2016-2021 manifesto, listing it as one of the 20 roads whose construction was to be started in the financial year 2015/2016.
In December 2016 during the commissioning of the Shs11 billion Masaka Market, which was constructed with funding from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, prompted Mr Museveni to reiterate his government’s commitment to improving the road network in greater Masaka. He was once again forced to reassure the folk there that the road would be fixed.
“We are going to tarmac the Bukakata–Nyendo road and rehabilitate Kyotera road,” Mr Museveni said.

Impact
This road has been in a very poor state for a very long time but the worst was perhaps in June 2017 when the Masaka LC5 leadership contemplated passing a District Council resolution to declare it closed to the public. Five vehicles had at the time got stuck at Mazigo, about 10kms from Bukakata and people in Nyendo had planted banana stems and tree branches in some sections of the road to protest the state in which it was.
That was the climax of a 21-year-period of suffering in the form of long hours on the road, high cost of transport and a heavy toll on vehicles.
Vehicles deployed to work on the road have been wearing out very quickly making those in the transport business reluctant to deploy vehicles there. Very few people have been willing to invest money in cars to ply such a bad road.
The high cost of transport on roads with bad networks also have an adverse impact on production and poverty alleviation as a whole.
Farmers in such areas cannot access good markets for their produce. Where some produce buyers brave the bad roads to access the lands that produce their merchandise, they often take the produce for a song.
This is what has been partially undermining the call by Mr Museveni on people to lay emphasis on household incomes.
It is not possible to quantify the extent of the damage caused to cars or the extent of the losses that the business community heresuffered on account of that bad road.
It is, however, common knowledge that fish, vegetable and fruits dealers here suffered whenever the road would become impassable. Their merchandise would stay in trucks for long hours on end, which would leave them either spoilt or rotten.Tour agents and operators of the various tourist destinations in Kalangala have also been suffering on account of the same bad road.
This has obviously had a negative impact on the tourism industry as a whole yet it remains a big contributor to the economy, having brought in about $1.35 billion in 2016, making it the single biggest forex earner. Its contribution amounted to 23.5 per cent of Uganda’s export earnings.

The road runs from Nyendo in Masaka Town, through Luvule, Kayugi and Nazigo trading centres to Bukakata on the shores of Lake Victoria. Bukakata is where the ferries connecting to Kalangala dock.

Nyendo-bukakata road

Last year, a statement from the Ministry of Finance, suggested that the construction will commence soon. The statement dated January 23, 2018 and signed by minister Matia Kasaija, indicated that the project would be financed using a loan from Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BEDEA) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). The roadworks were commissioned last December by President Museveni.

Official Position

On December 9, 2018, President Museveni was at Kasana Community playground in Nyendo-Ssenyange Division where he commissioned work on the 41-kilometre road which has been designed to have a-seven-metre wide carriageway and 1.5-metre wide shoulders. Mr Allan Ssempebwa Kyobe, the Media Relations Manager in the office of the Executive Director of UNRA, Ms Allen Kagina, says UNRA procured Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman and Company) to work on the road that had never been done despite appearing in the last 13 budget framework papers.
“We issued a commencement notice to the contractor this new year. They have the next three months to fully mobilize and start civil works,” he said.
Government will contribute Shs.165.5 billion, while the rest of the funding, $27million, is a loan from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and OPEC Fund for International Development.

Monitor POSITION

It is great that civil works on this road are about to commence. Infrastructure, like it was pointed out in the 2010/2011 – 2014/2015 National Development Plan, is the block on which the tourism industry can be built.
With Kalangala fast turning into one of the hottest tourist destinations, it is important that access to the district is improved if we are to reap even bigger dividends from the sector than we are doing. Other social economic benefits are also expected to come with this road. Besides providing short term employment opportunities during theprojects’ duration, we see growth and development in all major trading centers along that road.
With them will come infrastructure such as buildings, goodhotels, nice road side eateries and crafts’ shops. All this will open up employment opportunities which should be grate news at a time when the economy is not generating very many jobs.

Voices

“By inducing economic development and facilitating trade, a functional road network contributes to the integration of the economy into the regional and world market, which is the precondition for sustainable economic growth and development,” President Yoweri Museveni

“Most of the roads in Masaka which are in a very sorry state fall directly under the central government. We intend to awaken government to its responsibility to maintain them. It undermines our performance. The public expects improved services,”
Mr Godfrey Kayemba, Mayor Masaka Municipality

“I am waiting for money, feasibility studies are done. The next step is procurement, but to do this [procurement], government has to give me money. We have tasked government to give us money for the South-Western Uganda tourism roads,” Ms Allen Kagina, UNRA Executive Director