Districts, cities stuck with funds for roads

Several districts, municipalities and cities are stuck with funds for roads, which were released and deposited on their accounts three months ago, according to sources. 

The government has allocated Shs1 billion for roadworks in each district, 10 cities, and 31 municipalities.

However, despite many roads being in a sorry state due to the rains, this money is still lying idle in the accounts of many local governments. Some leaders claim they are confused about the guidelines to follow.

On July 27, the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, directed that the  Road Rehabilitation Development  Grant be managed by the Uganda Road Fund under the auspices of district roads committees. She further guided that the respective administrative units must ensure prudent and accountable utilisation of the funds.

“All districts, cities and municipalities are hereby directed to immediately hold statutory meetings as provided for under the Uganda Road Fund Act, 2008 in order to prioritise and devise work plans,”  Ms Among said.

She added: “ The work plans for each district, city, and municipality must be duly approved by the respective roads committees, which shall equally apply to accountability reports.”

Although the guidelines by the Speaker require local government leaders to use the money for maintenance of non-tarmacked roads, which are the majority in rural areas, the guidelines issued by Cabinet talk about rehabilitation.

According to Bushenyi-Ishaka municipal mayor Richard Byaruhanga, they are yet to harmonise the guidelines from Speaker Among and Cabinet.

“The Parliament advised that we follow guidelines of Road Fund while the Cabinet says we have to follow guidelines from the Ministry of Finance that came alongside the money. So we are still confused on what to do and currently going slow to avoid getting problems,” he said yesterday.

 Mr Byaruhanga said they have written to the Ministry of Finance seeking guidance and once they get the response, they will kick off construction works.

 “We have already budgeted for Shs1 billion and once we get clarity on the guidelines, utilisation of funds will swiftly start,” he said.

According to Mr Richard Rwabuhinga, the president of Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA), each district is stuck with Shs500 million of the Shs1 billion the government promised for roads.

“Both Cabinet and Parliament are conflicting with each other.  Our request is for permission to allocate the money for road rehabilitation and we have this discrepancy resolved,” he said.

Mr  Alfred Malinga, the  chief administrative officer (CAO) of Wakiso District,said a circular he received from the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Local Government, Mr Ben Kumumanya  indicated that the money is meant for road maintenance, not rehabilitation.

 “The district roads committee has approved the final work plan for Wakiso District with all the municipalities and town councils. This week, we are starting maintenance on the 15km Kasanje-Bubebere Road and 9kms of Kisindye-Mabamba Road ,” Mr Malinga said.

 He added: “Of course, Shs1 billion is not enough for the entire Wakiso and that is why we have always asked for  affirmative action  because the district has  nine town councils and some of these are bigger than some of the regional cities and municipalities, for example Kyengera, Kasangati, Kajjansi are big town councils.”

According to Mr Herman Jilibe, the Kalangala District secretary for works, despite the delay in using the funds, the roads committee is sitting and members get their allowances.

 “With the budget of Shs8million per year allocated for the sitting of the roads committee, Kalangala has so far utilised Shs2 million to organise the first quarter roads committee meeting that sat last month to draw a work plan,”

 In Jjinja , Mr Moses Batwala, the district chairman, said 13kms of roads have been selected for maintenance. These include Lubanyi -Buwala Road in Butagaya Sub-county and Lubanyi -Buwenge Town Council Road.

 In Kaliro, the district chairperson, Mr Elijah Kagoda, said they only received Shs250m in the first quarter, which is too little to complete a single road.

Kisoro District Chairman, Mr Abel Bizimana, said the engineering departments of Kisoro District and Kisoro Municipality presented their work plans last week and have been approved.

“Although, the guidelines from the centre are not clear, we wish that the road fund be released in a lumpsum instead of quarterly if it is to serve the intended purpose because similar unclear guidelines saw us receive only 60 percent of the road fund in the 2022/2023 financial year ,”  he added.

Bushenyi District Vice Chairperson, Mr Peter N Mugume, agreed with Mr Bizimana, saying the money is released every three months.  He said  the district has so far received Shs250m for July to October and expects another batch this month or  in December.

 “When the money for the first quarter came, the government had directed that it be used as a rehabilitation fund,but Parliament later disagreed and advised that the money is used for maintenance of the already existing roads. So, we are waiting for a final say from the government,” he said.

 Mr Mugume added :“We have, however, budgeted for the money we received in the  first quarter as per the rehabilitation fund and launched a 10 km Butinde- Nyarugoote-Nyakasuro Road in Kyamuhunga and Nyabubare sub counties, which we shall start after receiving a go-ahead from the government.”

When he appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (Local Government), which sat in Masaka City last month, the Masaka District CAO,Mr Gabriel Rogers Bwayo, said they are still waiting for a final position regarding the utilisation of these funds to avoid audit queries that might arise out of contradicting guidelines.

Minister speaks out

The Minister for Local Government, Mr Raphael Magyezi, said there is no contradiction in the guidelines because both Parliament and Cabinet are some of the pillars of government.

 “What we clarified was to utilise the money for the maintenance of roads to have reasonable coverage instead of rehabilitating and opening of new roads. With the first guidelines that money could have worked on only 40 kilometres,”he said.

Mr Magyezi added: “Legislators, being members of the district roads committees, would have advised districts on the final decision taken which was even approved by the Cabinet and I communicated officially to all districts.”

Compiled by Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa,Philip Wafula, Abubaker Kirunda, Denis Edema,Sam Caleb Opio, Robert Muhereza, Julius Hafasha, Naume Biir Sandra Tumwekwase, Milton Bandiho, Julius Byamukama, Coslin Nakayiira,Tausi Nakato,David Sekayinga&Alex Ashaba