TRANSPORT: In January 2020, the government of Uganda began preparations to upgrade and expand the Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula road, using funds sourced from the African Development Bank.
The feasibility study for the road construction and other details of the project were concluded and government under the Uganda National Roads Authority was supposed to look for a contractor to reconstruct the 96km road whose state is currently appalling.
The Kyotera County Member of Parliament Hon. Lukwago John Paul Mpalanyi on several occasions has presented the poor state of Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula road before Parliament as a matter of National Importance, and the speaker of Parliament directed the ministry of Works and Transport to immediately intervene in the matter.
Hon. Mpalanyi again engaged the Executive Director of the Uganda national Roads Authority (UNRA) Ms. Allen Kagina and in their meeting they agreed that, the project is to utilize the already acquired space (road reserves), there shall be some land acquisitions on some sections, were climbing lanes have been deemed necessary per the technical designs, Only those to be affected as in 2 above, shall be compensated as soon as funds become available and No compensations shall be given for the already acquired reserves.
The Kimaanya-Kabonera Legislator Hon. Abed Bwanika also intervened in the same Matter with a number of engagements with UNRA and the Ministry of works, and later availed more information to the Bukoto central Legislator Eng. Hon. Richard Sebamala who also presented the same matter of National Importance before the !1th Parliament.
The three Members of Parliament are much concerned about the poor state of the road because it starts from Kimaanya-Kabonera constituency in Masaka city through Bukoto Central constituency in Masaka district and it stretches through Kyotera county and Kakuuto county at Mutukula international border with Tanzania.
However, this website has learnt that the African Development Bank (ADB) cancelled its plans to finance the project because of the unpaid huge loans acquired by the government of Uganda from the bank.
According to the latest information, the Ministry of finance is negotiating with a Chinese company called Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO) a company which was contracted to construct the Masaka-Nyendo road (Broadway) and many other roads in the country to pre-finance the Masaka-Kyotera- Mutukula road and the repayment be made after 3 years.
This Website has learnt that immediately after the negotiations, the works will kick off.
On Saturday, March 18th 2023 while commemorating the Kyotera District Women’s day, the Prime Minister of Uganda Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja misinformed the public that the government under the Uganda National Roads Authority is currently looking for a contractor to reconstruct the road but never revealed how ADB pulled out from the Project.
The 96km-road was built in the 1960s to link and promote trade ties and cooperation between Uganda, Tanzania, and the rest of the East African partners. However, the current state of the road is appalling and hindering the smooth movement of commercial trucks and other vehicles.
Other roads which were proposed to be part of the project of Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula include Buyaga-Bukunda road, Ddimu-Malembo-Kalisizo road and Kyapa-Kasensero road.
However, for Bukunda- Buyaga road, the Uganda National Roads Authority Executive Director Ms. Allen Kagina informed the Area member of parliament Eng. Richard Sebamala that the road cannot be tarmacked because its not part of their mandate since its one of the Masaka District roads.
Since Ms. Allen Kagina’s discussions with Eng. Sebamala yielded no results, Sebamala then engaged the Ministry of Works and Transport to work on Bukunda-Buyaga road under low cost sealing which the ministry will start on its works by the end of this year 2023. The Ministry advertised the road recently seeking for a contractor to work on the fisrt 5km from Bukunda to Kkindu and pledged to be working on 5km every Financial year under low cost sealing.
Ddimu- Malembo- Kalisizo road is also under negotiations to be included under this project, and efforts to include the 41km Kyapa- Kasensero road were positively concluded to be part of the project.
This website has also learnt that the Kyapa-Kasensero road was included because of the Oil Palm project which is yet to be established at Sango bay stretch.
About Masaka-Kyotera-Mutukula Road.
Masaka–Kyotera-Mutukula Road is a road in the Central Region of Uganda, connecting Masaka City, to the border town of Mutukula in Kyotera District.
The road stars in Masaka, near the Uganda Police barracks, where this road forms a T-junction with Broadway Road. The road continues in a southwesterly direction, through Kalisizo, Kyotera and ends in Mutukula, at the international border with Tanzania, a total length of about 90 kilometres (56 mi).
This road is part of the East African Community Road Network Project. It is the main road transport corridor between Uganda and Tanzania. The road is divided into two sections: (a) Masaka–Kyotera section, which measures 44 kilometres (27 mi), was built in 1960s and has begun to deteriorate and (b) Kyotera–Mutukula section, measuring 46 kilometres (29 mi), was originally constructed in the 1960s and was upgraded to class II bitumen standards in 2003 with a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Section (b) was in good condition, as of 2006, while section (a) was in need of an upgrade.
By our reporter
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