Benjamin Makanga the District Secretary for Works has described the report as inaccurate and misleading to the public.
The authorities in Nakaseke district have denied reports by
Auditor General that they executed shoddy road works in the financial year 2020/21.
In his 2020/21, the
Auditor General John F.S. Muwanga
observed that Nakaseke district carried out shoddy works on roads that include; Kinyogogga- Kyabalongo-
Kitindo road which is estimated about 18 kilometers and Kalagala- Kyamaweno- Kinyogogga
which is 34 kilometers. The Auditor-General didn’t mention how much was spent
on the roads.
But Benjamin Makanga, the District
Secretary for Works has described the report as inaccurate and misleading to
the public.
Makanga explained that the district didn’t
allocate any funds in the financial year to construct Kalagala- Kyamaweno- Kinyogoga
road as the Auditor report alleged.
He says that instead the residents mobilized
three million shillings for fuel and the district gave them graders to only do
spot improvement to enable movement of people as well as goods.
Makanga adds that the work that was
done is enough compared to the little fuel donated by the public and it's erroneous to indicate
it in the report as shoddy work. He
further said that Kinyogogga- Kyabalongo-
Kitindo road works were carried out in the financial year 2019/2020, but it was destroyed by rains
something they may have no control about it.
“So it's not fair to claim that we have executed shoddy road works. In fact, we intend to do major maintenance works on Kalagala -
Kyamaweno - Kinyogoga road in the next financial year," said Makanga.
Samuel Mwesigwa, the LC 3 Chairperson of
Kinyogogga sub county said that because there was no money budgeted for the road works, they
mobilized residents who contributed funds for fuel and now the road is passable.
“With some funds collected by residents, we
managed to fix potholes and now trucks carrying several goods are able to ply
along it. It’s not true that shoddy works were done," he added.
Phillip Mugabi, a resident of Kinyogogga
trading center said because they waited for the district to work on the road in vain,
they contributed for works but little was collected for construction. Mugabi said they are still appealing to
the district to work on it because the potholes are slowly developing again.
In 2020/ 2021 financial year, Nakaseke
budgeted for 2.4 billion shillings for the road and engineering department whereas
in 2021/22 the budget estimates decreased to 1.8 billion shillings.
Nakaseke district has a road network
of over 2000 kilometers but the majority of them are in a poor state.
Meanwhile, the Nakaseke District Woman
Member of Parliament Sarah Najjuma has also raised a red flag over shoddy works at the ongoing
construction works at Gomero-Migani-Kagongi-Buwana road which is 33 kilometers.
The road construction by Greystone Investments Limited will cost 2 billion shillings, but Najjuma says that shoddy work is being carried out. She has vowed to block more funding to the contractor unless he some of the work is redone.
"The swamps are not filled in well, the drainage system is not properly done. Some road sections have no murram and the contractor alleges that he has run out of money and needs more funding," says Najjuma.
The road project under the Local Economic Growth Support is implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and funded by the Islamic Development Bank Group together with the Government of Uganda.
Greystone Investments Limited is yet to comment on the allegations.
