Road infrastructure in Bugisu an indictment

Last month, His Grace Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, the ninth Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala, uncharacteristically arrived late at North Mbale Diocese's coming out party. The diocese was toasting to the opening of St Matthew’s Cathedral at Buhugu in Sironko District.

Construction of the 1,500-seater cathedral started in December of 2019. It was no mean feat seeing the project through. Archbishop Mugalu, one not known to be in the habit of sugaring the pill, disclosed what occasioned his late arrival—the rains that had pounded Sironko's dirt roads stalled his journey. On an equally puzzling note, Dr Mugalu was astonished at how a Sub-region whose volumes of Arabica coffee contribute enormously to the country’s export receipts has such poor road infrastructure. 

Sironko is among the half a dozen districts that make up the Arabica coffee-rich Bugisu Sub-region. The coffee growing areas are a little over 5000 feet above sea level. When it rains, it pours.

Literally and metaphorically as the current travails in Bulambuli District have shown. The challenges that Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja experienced while trying to get to the communities where mudslides swept all in their wake tells the story. A story of a Sub-region blighted by an abjectly poor road infrastructure. 

We share Dr Mugalu's astonishment at the status quo in the Arabica coffee-rich Sub-region. Most importantly, we move to question why such a state of affairs has been allowed to have roots that run deep.

To provide context, when the oil in the Albertine Graben was deemed to be recoverable, the government went out of its way to construct the so-called oil roads. While not quite the finished article, you can sense the pains that have been staked in their making.

We reckon the optics of the contrast between the Albertine Graben and Bugisu Sub-region are infernal. This only succeeds in engendering complaints about favouritism and its attendant ills. It's difficult to argue otherwise unless, with the Equal Opportunities Commission’s body of work often at pains to underscore such asymmetries.

It is no secret that the Museveni administration has over the years announced its preference rather emphatically to invest in infrastructure projects where support at the ballot is tangible. This, however, is patently absurd. 

When the oath of the presidency is taken, a promise is solemnly made to be a president of all people in Uganda. We believe it is not too much to ask to fulfil this simple, if mundane, pledge. Prime Minister Nabbanja might have, perhaps unintentionally but not unsuccessfully, turned the dirt roads of Bugisu Sub-region into the butt of all jokes as communities in Bulambuli came to terms with the latest mudslides. This, however, is anything but a laughing matter. The asymmetries in our country have to be handled with the urgency they so deserve.

To be clear, we are in no way questioning the investment made in the roads. Evidently, there is a business case that the country’s budget wonks have articulated. What we want to point out is the fact that it ought not to be an either or case. Seen through the lens of a cash crop, coffee’s business case is just as strong as that of the so-called black gold.