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Why damaged Kabale-Kisoro road is yet to be fixed

Traffic was yesterday paralysed after a section of the Kabale-Kisoro-Rwanda/ DR Congo road collapsed at Hamurwa Village, Hamurwa Town Council in Rubanda District. The Kabale Uganda National Roads Authority station manager, Ms Alison Abenabo, said traffic was diverted to Katuna-Rubaya Muko road to pave way for rehabilitation of the road. She said the road was destroyed by heavy rainfall that has also damaged several roads in Kigezi Sub-region over the past week. Close to 20 people have died and hundreds others displaced following week-long incessant downpour. PHOTO /ROBERT MUHEREZA 

The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) has attributed the delayed repair of a damaged section of Kabale-Kisoro road on the procurement process of the required raw materials.

The Unra station engineer for Kabale area, Ms Alison Abenabo, on Tuesday said after completing the stone base of the road, which was damaged by heavy rain on May 4, they halted works as they waited for the raw materials.

She dismissed allegations by some local leaders in the area that they abandoned the works.
“We have not abandoned the works on fixing the damaged Kabale-Kisoro road section at Hamurwa Town Council. After completing a stone base, we stopped for a while as we procured the required raw materials,” Ms Abenabo said.

She added that they expect to continue with the repair since they have secured the raw materials.
“Now that we have these required raw materials, I am sure that at the beginning of next week, we shall return on site to fix the damaged road section,” Ms Abenabo said.

She also revealed that fixing of the damaged road section will take a maximum of two weeks.
“We shall not change the design of the damaged road section. We shall repair the damaged road section as per the original design of the Kabale Kisoro road,” Ms Abenabo said, explaining that plans are underway to desilt all the drainage channels and fill all the potholes that emerged because of the heavy rains on the road.

The Kabale-Kisoro road that connects to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda through Kisoro district carved in at Hamurwa Village in Rubanda District on May 4 after heavy rain pounded that area for three consecutive days.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the LCIII chairperson for Hamurwa Town Council, Ms Thereza Tumwesigye, said the delayed fixing of the damaged section was affecting the rest of the road.

“When the road section was damaged, officials from Unra came in very first and started fixing the damaged part. After a few days, they disappeared. As of now the work looks to be abandoned and the remaining undamaged road section has started peeling off slowly because of heavy traffic especially from the cargo trucks. We need to see Unra back on this road section to avoid bigger problems,” Ms Tumwesigye said.

The deputy speaker for Rubanda District, Mr Pierre Mbabazi, called on Unra officials to conduct thorough investigations on the cause of such incidents on roads.