Buhweju: Ankole region district without tarmacked road

The road users, especially farmers who transport goods such as coffee, matooke, irish potatoes and maize, say they incur high costs in transporting their produce to markets as motorists spend a lot of time maneuvering the impassable roads.

“I have made losses due to unnecessary delays in transporting my produce to marketplaces because of bad roads in the district. A thin layer of murram is splattered on top of the road that is later washed away after rains and this keeps us in poverty,” Mr Anthony Ampaire, a resident of Bitsya in Buhweju, said.

The bad roads have also push transport fares up in the rainy seasons.

Mr Ampaire would part with Shs15,000 in transpot costs from Bwizibwera in Mbarara to Nsiika Town Council in Buhweju District, but the fares have been increased to Shs35,000.

The most affected areas are Rukiri-Rwengwe Road, which connects the two districts of Buhweju and Ibanda, and Nyakambu-Kabusye road that connects to Bwizibwera in Mbarara.

Mr Dickens Byomuhangi, a taxi driver on the Bwizibwera-Buhweju road, said his vehicle often gets stuck in mud and breaks down as he transports people.

Defending the increment, Mr Byomuhangi said: “I invest too much in repairing and servicing my vehicle and this forces me to increase the fare to between Shs15,000 and Shs35,000 in order to remain in business.”

Mr Deo Atuhaire, the Buhweju District chairperson, said they have improved the state of some roads despite the meager resources from government.

“We have actually made major improvements on roads in the district and when we receive Shs1 billion for this financial year, we shall cover around 80 percent of the district roads,’’ he said.

He added that roads meant to be constructed by the Ministry of Works are in a sorry state, with broken culverts and bridges. 

“President Museveni pledged to construct for us a tarmacked road from Bwizibwera to Buhweju in 1989 during his first visit to Buhweju. This pledge has not been fufilled. Most affected roads are for the central government, for example Kyakanda Bridge that connects Kyakanda Town Council to Nyakambu is in bad state,” he said.

Works bureaucracy

Mr Francis Mwijukye, the Buhweju Member of Parliament, said the bureaucracy in the Works ministry is unbearable.

“It is hard for the Ministry of Works and Transport to work in time because even when they are informed about potholes on central government roads in the district, it takes them years to act. I sent a message to Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) officials about the state of Kyakanda bridge that was washed away by floods, and they told me all activities had been halted,’’ Mr Mwijukye said.

Mr Mwijukye, however, said there are plans to have Bwizibwera–Nyakambu-Nsiika–Kabwohe road constructed.

“We are waiting for the construction of a tarmac road from Bwizibwera–Nyakambu–Nsiika and then to Kabwohe and then there is also another route from Nsiika to Nyakabirizi. 

“The plans had reached the final stages before Unra was rationalised. Unra had written to the Ministry of Finance to inform them how they had got a contractor for that road,” he added.

Mr Mwijukye also revealed that “the Solicitor General had already cleared the contract and what was remaining was the Finance ministry to bring documents to Parliament and the works begin.”

Buhweju District is rich in gold and their biggest cash crop is tea.

Proximity to Mbarara

Buhweju District is bordered by Rubirizi District to the west and northwest, Ibanda District to the northeast, Mbarara District to the east, Sheema District to the southeast, and Bushenyi District to the southwest.

Nsiika, the location of the dis[1]trict headquarters, is approxima[1]ely 53 kilometres northwest of Mbarara, the largest city in Ankole Sub-region.

[email protected]