Luwero district fails to utilize shs500 million road fund

Luwero roads rot as district fails to spend available shs500 million

Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | There is uproar among leaders in Luwero district over an unutilized 500 million shillings meant for road works.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the Government disbursed one billion shillings to Luwero district for road works.

According to a report by Luwero district engineer Robert Kalenzi, by the time the financial year elapsed, the district had only been able to spend  500 million shillings out of one billion shillings.

The district carried out road works on Waluleta –Ndejje road (5.1 kilometers), Wobulenzi-Waluleta road (8.3 kilometers), Kikyusa-Kibengo-Manywa road (25 kilometers) and upgrading Lumansi swamp (0.4 kilometers).

The district officials also spent 78 million shillings on road inspections, inventory, office operations and meetings.

About five roads and swamps which were supposed to be worked on using the grant remain unrehabilitated.

Erastus Kibirango the LC 5 Chairman of Luwero district explained that the district could not spend over 500 million shillings because rains disrupted works within the first two quarters of the 2023/24 financial year.

Kibirango adds that on resuming works, the district road equipment suffered rampant breakdown and delay in the release of funds for the last quarter.

Kibirango noted that by the end of the financial year, all funds had been committed to fuel, allowances and buying consumables for road equipment to ensure that they were not taken back to the consolidated fund.

Kibirango said currently the engineering department is working hard to absorb all the funds before the release of more funds in the new financial year 2024/25.

The district also received an additional 179 million shillings from Uganda Road Fund but this remains unaccounted for.

However, the Resident District Commissioner and LC 3 Chairpersons have faulted the district leadership for incompetence as well as for executing shoddy work.

The LC 3 Chairpersons had initially asked the district to send a share of the grant to each sub county to work on their roads but they rejected the request.

Nuru Kijjambu the LC 3 Chairperson of Kikyusa sub county and Edward Ssimbwa the LC 3 Chairperson of Luwero Sub county said that instead they were asked to submit at least three roads to benefit from the one billion road grant but to date nothing is being done.

Ssimbwa explained that he expected the district to work on the Luwero-Kikube-Kagalama road but todate there are no works and residents are bitter over the road’s poor state.

Kijjambu said that the works done along Kikyusa-Kibengo-Manywa road using the grant are also not convincing to the residents.

The Resident District Commissioner Richard Bwabye blamed the non-utilization of road funds on lack of supervision, poor coordination and planning by the works department.

Bwabye added that he has also got reports that shoddy works have also been done on the few reportedly completed roads.

Bwabye has asked the Chief Administrative Officer to take action on the engineering unit for failure to utilize funds and executing shoddy works rather than hiding their weaknesses.

RDC Bwabye has also written to the CAO asking him to submit a status report about the utilization of the road grant extended to the district.

The District Road Committee comprising of Members of Parliament and district leadership is expected to inspect the roads completed and thereafter hold meeting on the matter.

Denis Sekabira the Katikamu North Member of Parliament says that some of the issues affecting road works are above district’s mandate hence need to come up with common voice to ensure they are corrected.

” As MPs we shall need to find out why funds are released late and Ministry of Works fail to repair the road equipment which is their mandate,” Sekabira said.

Luwero district has a road network of over 1,360 kilometers. At least 628 kilometers of these are maintained by the district, 164. 51 kilometers by urban councils and 567.3 kilometers by sub-counties.

However, the majority of the roads in the district are impassable due to potholes and culverts that caved in.

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