West Nile leaders task UNRA on delayed upgrade of roads

Leaders in West Nile Sub-region have decried the delayed upgrade of Koboko-Yumbe-Moyo, and Nebbi-Goli-Paidha-Warr-Vurra roads to bitumen despite repeated pledges, including by President Museveni, since 1996 to expedite the works.

The Nebbi-Goli-Paidha-Warr-Vurra stretch straddles the border with the DR Congo and links three key customs points – Goli, Mahagi, and Vurra – from which the government collects billions of shillings annually in tax revenue.

However, vast sections of the roads are jagged, resulting in accidents and cause rapid tear and wear of vehicles.

During a meeting with Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) and World Bank officials in Moyo town  last week, Mr Williams Anyama, the district chairman, said the bad roads have slowed trade.

“We do not know why [the] government is taking long. The economic recovery of [the] region has been slowed because of bad roads. We should push for this with one language,” he said.

Mr Anyama said parts of the inter-district roads are impassable, especially during rainy seasons due to deep gullies.

The Unra project coordinator, Mr Kenneth Muniina, said the bidding documents for Koboko-Yumbe-Moyo road have been concluded and submitted to the World Bank for approval to allow the roads agency proceed with a bid call.

Mr Peter Taniform, the infrastructure programme leader at the World Bank, said the financing grant for the project was confirmed in September 2020 and signed in October 2020.

Meanwhile, MPs from Nebbi, Pakwach,  and Zombo districts are preparing to meet President Museveni again over the delayed upgrade of the 14.4km Nebbi–Goli custom road.

Nebbi Municipality MP Hashim Suleiman said the road featured in the 2016 /2021 manifesto of the ruling National Resistance Movement as a priority, but it is missing in the National Development Plan III. He said the steep Jukia Hill section of Nebbi-Goli road, edged to the east by a gorge, has claimed many lives, necessitating it to be urgently tarmacked, adding that Congo-bound heavy long-haul trucks routinely damage the compacted gravel.

Mr Gabriel Okumu, the Okoro MP, rallied lawmakers in West Nile to ensure the road is tarmacked.

“The economy and livelihoods of northern Uganda is in Zombo [a food basket]. If the road from Nebbi to Goli up to Vurra custom in Arua District is tarmacked, the livelihoods of our people [would be] changed,” Mr Okumu said.

The Nebbi chairman, Mr Emmanuel Urombi, on January 10 petitioned the Works ministry afresh over the renovation of the road.

“Jukia Hill on Nebbi-Goli custom road [is in] in bad state [and] poses big risks to road users and has been a death trap for many years due to its steepness,” he wrote.