Kabarole residents repair dilapidated road

Kabarole, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Residents of Kiguma Sub County in Kabarole district spent a good part of Saturday repairing the Nyakitojo road that has been in a poor state for over 10 years. 

The residents say that the road which connects to Karago Town Council and Sub Counties of Bukuku and Mugusu, had developed large potholes filled with stagnant water, was bushy and would get so slippery during rainy seasons. They said efforts to have it repaired by the sub county leaders had proved fruitless. 

Adolf Nyakahuma, the Kiguma Village Chairperson, recalls that early this year residents collected 150,000 shillings and approached the district authorities for the road maintenance equipment so that they buy fuel for the machines that would be used to repair the road but their request was never granted because the money was insufficient. 

As a result, he says that they had no option but to resort to self-help since no office helped them and yet the most affected spots of the road were in their village. 

On Saturday, he gathered over 40 residents who went with pangas, slashers, and hoes and they started unclogging the trenches of the road, filling the potholes with gravel and clearing the bushes. They also tried to level parts of the 5 kilometer road that had developed deep gullies. 

Peter Aligonza, a resident of the area, says it’s so painful to find that they pay taxes but are being treated like non-Ugandans in their mother land by being denied a better road. 

Patrick Tusiime, also a resident Kiguma, notes that he responded to the call of self-help after realizing that when the road is in poor state, it’s them who suffer most as they fail to transport their agricultural products to markets or go about their day-to-day activities.

However, Joram Sabiiti, the Kiguma LC III chairman, says that even though it’s the Sub County’s responsibility to maintain the road, they have been frustrated by lack of funds. 

Sabiiti says they need over 50 million shillings for the task, but they only get 3 million shillings per year from Uganda Road Fund – URF which he says is way too little. 

But Nyakahuma says they will not wait for government funds any more, and are now embarking on looking for gravel from well-wishers and some resident so that they fully repair their road themselves.

*******

URN