Parliament of Uganda has rejected the government proposal to mainstream the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) into the Ministry of Works and Transport.
In a heated debate on the floor of the House on Tuesday, the lawmakers rejected the Uganda National Roads Authority Act (Repeal) Bill 2024, which would see UNRA taken back to its mother ministry.
The move to take UNRA back to the Ministry of Works and Transport is part of the government policy to merge, mainstream, and rationalize various government agencies, commissions, and authorities to streamline operations, reduce redundancy and duplication, and optimize public expenditure.
The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala, told Parliament that, among others, UNRA staff earn much higher salaries than staff at the Ministry.
However, the Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure, which scrutinized the bill, dismissed Katumba’s argument on the grounds that UNRA’s salary structure is set by its Board, which is constituted by the Minister of Works and Transport.
UNRA is responsible for the management, development, and maintenance of national roads, advising the government on policy matters regarding roads, and assisting in the implementation of policies relating to the road network.
The move to take UNRA back to the Ministry of Works and Transport is part of the government policy to merge, mainstream, and rationalize various government agencies, commissions, and authorities to streamline operations, reduce redundancy and duplication, and optimize public expenditure.
While presenting the Committee Report at the floor of the House, the Committee Chairman, Dan Kimosho, said that the committee did not observe any mandate overlap on duplication of services, noting that the role of the Ministry is limited to policy formulation, regulation, setting of standards, monitoring, and evaluation.
The Committed noted that the purpose for which UNRA was created is still relevant and necessary, as evidenced by the work executed by UNRA.
UNRA has built the National Road Network to its current net worth of USD 5.4 billion.
“Based on the value of the national road network it is managing, this is a huge portfolio that requires specialized and efficient management to avoid the country incurring major losses. Since inception, UNRA has fulfilled its mandate,” said Kimosho while presenting the report.
For the last 15 years, UNRA has constructed 3,686km of new paved national roads, representing an average of 230km per year. This is compared to 2,800km of paved roads that were constructed over a period of 50 years, from the 1950s to 2008, when UNRA was created.
Today, the total kilometers of paved roads managed by UNRA stand at 6,486km.
For the last 15 years, UNRA has constructed 1,820km of national roads to restore their value and serviceability.
UNRA currently operates 12 ferries from the original 3 ferries distributed across the country for people who live around waterbodies.
The merger of UNRA with the Ministry of Works and Transport also aims to curb wasteful expenditure and relieve the government of a huge burden of spending.
However, the committee disagreed.
“The Committee noted that, much as UNRA is not entirely a revenue-generating entity, it is currently collecting toll revenue of 3.7 billion shillings per month from the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway,” said Kimosho.
“In 2022 and 2023, UNRA collected a total of 85 billion shillings, and this revenue is protected to increase upon completion of the Busega-Mpigi and Kampala-Jinja Expressways. In light of the above, the Committee noted that UNRA has become a shock absorber for the road infrastructure sector, and mainstreaming it may expose the sector to high risk that may result in financial losses in the medium and long term.”
The Committee also noted that the construction, development, and maintenance of national roads are done by semi-autonomous entities the world over.
“For instance, all members of the East African Community have adopted a semi-autonomous road agency affiliated with their respective ministries of works and infrastructure. In Kenya, it is called the Kenya National Highway Authority; in Tanzania, it is called the Tanzania National Roads Agency; in Rwanda, it is called the Rwanda Road Transport Agency; in South Sudan, it is called the South Sudan Roads Agency; and in Ethiopia, it is called the Ethiopia Roads Authority.”
“The role of UNRA in the management, development, and maintenance of national road infrastructure is critical to the performance of the Works and Transport sector and the country’s development aspirations in light of Uganda being a transit and landlocked country. Mainstreaming UNRA into the Ministry of Works and Transport will lead to the same challenges experienced in the past that led to the same ministry spearheading the formation of UNRA and would necessitate future reforms to recreate UNRA for this reason. It is recommended that the government retain UNRA as a semi-autonomous road agency,” said Kimosho.
Bukanga North lawmaker Nathan Byanyima said that before UNRA was created, the government benchmarked all over Africa to ascertain whether the authority would be of great importance to Uganda.
“UNRA has done a commendable job. We had no tarmac roads in Uganda. It is UNRA that has increased tamarc roads in Uganda. The only challenge has been a lack of funding. Let’s give credit where it is due. UNRA has done a commendable job,” he said.
On matters where UNRA staff are paid far more than staff of the Ministry of Works and Transport and other government agencies, some MPs observed that slashing UNRA staff salaries will compel highly qualified engineers to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
