No road, no vote; Bunyoro tells Museveni

Residents and police officers look at a taxi which overturned on the Hoima-Wanseko road recently. Leaders in Bunyoro sub-region want the President to tarmac the road. Photo by Francis Mugerwa  

In Summary

Justification. Area leaders say the President had promised the road would be tarmacked by October but to date, there is no work done.

HOIMA/BULIISA. Leaders in Hoima and Buliisa districts have petitioned President Museveni, demanding the tarmacking of the Hoima-Biiso-Wanseko road before the February general elections or else they don’t vote him.

“The President addressed a rally at Kigorobya Muslim Primary School in September and promised that this road would be tarmacked. To date, there is no sign of any construction work,” said Kigorobya Sub- county chairman Modest Mugisa.
Mr Mugisa said voters in his area are demanding the President fulfills his pledge before they can renew his mandate.
He said the poor state of the road is slowing down trade, increasing the cost of transporting goods and services and causing accidents.
Last Wednesday in Buliisa, more than 100 youth convened at Butyaba Trading Centre and expressed their disappointment over the delayed construction of the road.

“We were excited when we heard that the road would be tarmacked. In October, we volunteered to clear a camp site for Kolin Construction, the proposed contractor, since we anticipated jobs when construction begins. We are now becoming impatient,” said Mr Mustafa Mboineki, a youth leader.
Carrying placards that read; No Road, No Vote Mr President, the youth leaders accused local leaders of assuring the President of votes in Bunyoro sub-region without reminding him about the concerns of the voters.

The Hoima District NRM publicity secretary, Mr Mugenyi Mulindambura, said there is a government proposal to contract Kolin Construction Ltd, a Turkish company that tarmacked the Hoima-Kaiso-Tonya road, to work on the road.
Uganda National Roads Authority director for roads and bridges development Samuel Muhoozi said there was an advert in the media about three weeks ago inviting interested firms to bid for constructing the road.
“We shall soon receive the bids, evaluate them and by February, we shall have a contractor on site,” Mr Muhoozi said.

fmugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com