Govt to avail additional funds for roads in February

State Minister for Finance Henry Musasizi revealed during plenary on Tuesday, January 30, that the delayed release of road funds is due to insufficient resources.

Musasizi assured that additional cash limits, targeting roads and other critical areas, will be issued in February to address the issue.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa during plenary.

“The concerns are genuine but the situation is occasioned by a lack of adequate resources in time. However, roads are a sensitive area and when this matter came to us, we did resolve in our top management that we shall be issuing additional cash limits in the month of February when we realise more resources. And these additional cash limits will mainly target the roads and other sensitive votes,” Musasizi observed.

He was responding to a matter of national importance that was raised by Richard Gafabusa Muhumuza (Bwamba County, NRM) regarding the debilitating state of district roads. 

Minister of Works and Transport Gen Katumba Wamala

“I have seen a letter written by the Executive Director of Uganda Road Fund (URF) written to accounting officers of the districts, municipalities and cities to the effect that the Ministry of Finance has given Uganda Road Fund a zero expenditure limit for our roads for this quarter. Mr Speaker, I am concerned that the rains we had between September to December destroyed almost all our roads in the district,” Muhumuza intimated.

According to the Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, this appears to be a blanket funding freeze.

“I think the issue of zero release for quarter three is not only to road fund but has affected us across the board. It is not only my Ministry; I have been discussing with other ministers they are facing the same. So I think it’s a general problem,” Katumba remarked.

Dan Atwijukire Kimosho Mp Kazo County

Consequently, the chairperson of Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee, Dan Kimosho (Kazo County, NRM), says staff at Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) have been reduced to desktop research.

“If you look at UNRA for example, they have given wages and there are some internal memos informing staff to restrict themselves on desk work and what does that mean? That the government of Uganda is paying money for salaries for no work done across all institutions,” Kimosho pointed out. 

Budget Framework Paper

The development comes at a time when the budget for district, urban and community access roads (DUCAR) is in decline.

This was deduced from the 2024/25 Budget Framework Paper that minister Musasizi laid before Parliament on Thursday last week.

“The Committee observed that the proposed budget for the DUCAR sub-program is projected to decline from sh167.5bn (by sh25.2bn) to sh142.3bn in the financial year 2024/25 mostly due to the decline in the allocation to the Rehabilitation of District Roads Project,” the report states.

Specifically, the community roads improvement project is expected to drop from Sh47.20Bn in the current fiscal year to sh40bn next year while the rehabilitation of the district roads project shall slacken by sh18.30bn.

On the other hand, the rural bridges infrastructure development project is expected to reduce from Shs21.40bn to Shs22.50billion in the forthcoming fiscal year. 

This, lawmakers contend, is worrying given that many roads have been destroyed by the recent rains and floods, yet districts only receive inadequate funds from the Road Fund for the maintenance of roads. As such, they want the DUCAR budget reinstated to its original amount.