Works on Jinja-Kamuli road to start

In 2001, President Museveni made his first pledge of working on the Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu road.
This pledge later featured in several budget speeches between 2001 and 2010.

During campaigns for the 2011 General Election, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party released a five-year manifesto in which it committed to working on key infrastructure in the country.

The manifesto had a list of 22 roads, which the government promised to upgrade from gravel to tarmac. However, no work has been done on the 129-kilometre stretch to date.

Mr Titus Aleper, the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) project manager, now says they are in the process of securing contractors to undertake designs and build the roads.

“We are still in the process of identifying contractors before the exercise kicks off. The construction process has been divided into two parts; the 65km Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli road and the 64km Kamuli-Bukungu road in Buyende District. So we shall have two contractors,” he said during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting in Jinja City on Tuesday.

According to Mr Aleper, the road will commence immediately after securing contractors and it will be completed within three years.
Mr Abdul Hakim Kalinaki, the Unra land acquisition officer, said they have started with the process of   compensating those who will be affected by the (road) construction.

“We do compensation before taking over any land. Those who will be affected by the project will be paid before the exercise kicks off,’’ he said.
Mr Allan Ssempebwa, the Unra spokesperson, said the Jinja-Mbulamuti-Kamuli-Bukungu road is one of the projects that have been prioritised for implementation under the National Development Programme III (NDPIII).

“The road will also provide access to Bukungu-Kagwara-Kaberamaido (BKK) ferry site and will open up the area for economic development, the reason government has prioritised it,” Mr Ssempebwa said, adding that the cost and the actual date of the construction will be announced after the procurement exercise is done.

Leaders upbeat
Mr Maxwell Kuwembula, the Kamuli District chairperson-elect, said the road, once completed, will boost economic activities in the area by increasing connectivity and improving market accessibility.

“The volume of traffic will improve business in the area because we shall be having people who use that road to Teso Sub-region and the value of land will also rise,” he said.

Mr Moses Batwala, the Jinja District chairperson-elect, said once constructed, the road will attract more investors to the area who will set up more petrol stations and hotels because of easy accessibility, adding that the area had lagged behind because of poor road network.
Mr Isaac Musobya, a driver, said the road has been impassable during the rainy season and dusty during the dry season. 
“Construction of the road is long overdue, but it will help reduce the time spent on the road,” he said.

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