Ibanda municipality residents fault leaders on poor state of roads

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Authorities in Ibanda municipality have come under fire over the poor state of roads in the area.

The roads include Bufunda, Jubilee, Kagongo and Mpiira where the tarmac has developed several potholes. The potholes were last year patched up with murrum and left to deteriorate again sparking off anger from the road users.

Moses Kiviri the LCI chairperson for Mpira, says that the state of the roads is disturbing. He says that the authorities at the municipality have been promising to take action but in vain.

Daniel Tumukunde a boda boda cyclist along Jubilee stage says that the roads in the municipality have deteriorated and the tarmac has completely peeled off. He says that it is unfortunate that the authorities cannot even afford to patch up the road with murrum anymore.

Boris Kanyanmugara a businessman along Bufunda road says that the state of the roads has affected the business in the area. He says that the authorities should instead remove the existing tarmac and replace it with first-class murrum.

Apollo Kibeherere the Ibanda municipality Mayor says that the state of the roads in the municipality is a concern to everyone.   He says that the authorities have been trying to patch up the roads but currently there are no funds.

He also says that the roads life span is due since they were constructed in 2009. He also explains that the municipality’s road fund has been reduced from 480 to 350 million shillings.

Kibeherere further faults the government for failing to compensate the municipalities and town councils for the lost revenue when they stopped from collecting fees from taxi parks.

According to Kibeherere, the municipality used to collect at least 16 million shillings per month as local revenue.

He further reveals that the municipality lacks a road unit to work on the roads.

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