Parliament has increased the budget for Uganda Road Fund-URF from
36 billion shillings to 507.4 billion shillings.
The decision was based on a recommendation in the physical
infrastructure committee report on the need to reinstate the Fund’s budget to
over 500 billion shillings as in the 2018/2019 budget.
The committee was irked that ministry of finance drastically
reduced the budget of the Fund through a policy shift of releasing funds for
road maintenance directly to the implementing agencies effective next financial
year.
The policy shift, according to the committee report, is arbitrary and
would, therefore, strip the URF of its mandate to enhance the national and
district road maintenance as provided for in the Uganda Road Fund Act, 2008.
Committee chairperson, Robert Kafeero Ssekitoleko told the House
that the policy shift also accounts for the 93 percent budget cut to the Road
Fund.
Therefore, the Road Fund was projected to spend its total
budget of 36 billion shillings on executing 46 percent construction works for
the URF office block, finance low-cost sealing of 26km in 26 town councils and
support technical support units created in 25 selected local governments.
Ssekitoleko says the committee opposed the budget cut and
therefore rejected the policy shift.
//Cue in: “There was an
Cue out:…Road Fund Act.”//
The Minister of State for Planning, David Bahati attended the
sitting when the committee presented its report and recommendations. He,
however, did not explain why the ministry had made the policy shift.
The Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, however, reminded Bahati on
the pertinence of issues concerning the Road Fund. He also asked Ssekitoleko to
explain the Road Fund Budget cut.
Ssekitoleko explained that the Road Fund budget reduction amounts
to 507 billion shillings which the committee says must be reallocated to URF.
He says that the 507.4 billion shillings for road maintenance
should be reallocated from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Uganda
National Roads Authority (312.5 billion shillings) and 164.4 billion shillings from
local governments.
