Officials in Nakasongola District are encountering difficulties in using a UGX 250 million road grant they received in the first quarter of the year. This issue arises from the absence of clear guidelines on how to utilize the funds, even though the district’s community access roads are in poor condition.
Each district was allocated UGX 1 billion by the government for road works, and Nakasongola District received 250 million shillings of that allocation. The district’s chairperson, Mr. Sam Kigula, expressed their preference to allocate the money for road maintenance rather than the earlier proposed rehabilitation.
The poor state of access roads, such as Kansiira-Lwabyata and Ntuuti-Nabutaka, is causing difficulties for residents, impeding access to essential facilities like health centers and schools. Nakasongola District council speaker, Mr. Rogers Sunday Bwanga, explained that the lack of clear guidelines has made authorities hesitant to use the funds, especially during the rainy season when maintenance costs are higher.
Mr. Godfrey Ssemaganda, a resident of Lwabyata Sub-county in Nakasongola District, pointed out the challenges of using the nearly impassable access road between Ntuuti and Lwabyata. He emphasized the need for maintenance to prevent the road from becoming completely impassable during heavy rains.
In contrast, neighboring Nakaseke District has decided to allocate their UGX 250 million budget for road rehabilitation.
Luweero District’s chairperson, Mr. Erasto Kibirango, explained that their roads committee is awaiting communication from the Ministry of Local Government to determine the best course of action for their road grant.
While the Minister for Local Government, Mr. Raphael Magyezi, stated that guidelines for the road grant had been circulated to local governments, the lack of clarity on utilizing the funds has remained a challenge. The Ministry of Local Government aims to address this by circulating updated guidelines to local governments to ensure the effective utilization of the funds. However, as of last Thursday, many local governments, including Nakasongola District, had not yet received these new guidelines for the Financial Year 2023/2024.