Uganda government has for over ten years been working to improve the country’s road network by allocating substantial resources to the sub sector. In addition to the government funding,
development partners have been injecting large sums of money into the sector in form of long term loans, grants and technical support. Up to 45% of UNRA budget is funded by donors. About 85% of Uganda’s road network is gravel, much of it not graded or compacted. This explains the fast deterioration, dustiness, slipperiness in dry and rain seasons respectively. Of late, dwindling stocks of gravel materials especially good quality marram has been widely reported across the country. Where available the cost is exponentially high. Ministry of Works and Transport (MOW&T) estimates indicate that over 75% of national roads are not paved. This explains the challenges UNRA faces in maintaining gravel of earth roads. No wonder the backlog of unmaintained roads continues to expand each year. This brief presents a general overview of the performance of UNRA over the last three years 2016-2018. It will be followed by a deeper study that will cover the overall performance of UNRA since its inception. Therefore this brief is only meant to give a few highlights of the key issues in the roads agency as a pointer in guiding policy makers and the general public on the goings-on in UNRA, which then can be used as reference to address some of the outstanding weaknesses and strengthen areas where the agency is performing well. The brief highlights five core issues which policy makers ought to give adequate attention and priority.
