Poor access roads in north hindering economic growth

The poor state of community access roads in northern Uganda have continuously hiked the cost of transport and affected economic development.
Mr Denis Kamara, a businessman from Gulu District, says transporting goods in a truck from Lalogi Sub-county to Gulu Town used to cost Shs300,000. He, however, says it is now between Shs450,000 and Shs500,000.
“Passenger vehicles that used to charge Shs7,000 are now charging Shs10,000 and whenever we experience heavy rains, farmers, especially those from Gem Parish often fail to access better markets,” he says.
The month of March is always the beginning of the rainy season. During this season, many roads become impassable.
“The few traders who make it to the villages to buy the produce offer very low prices compared to the dry season,” Mr Kamara adds.
In Omoro District, bad roads hinder farmers from marketing their agricultural produce.
Omoro has 303 kilometres of district roads and another 502 kilometres of community access road. The main road in Omoro is Gulu-Moroto Road, is currently in a poor state, according to the district chairperson, Mr Douglas Peter Okello.
Mr Okello says more than 10 bridges on the road have broken down and the district does not have the capacity to work on them because of financial constraints.
In the 2018/2019 Financial Year, Omoro worked on 37.8 kilometres of its community access roads with support from Uganda Road Fund (URF).
URF, the body that ensures road maintenance in the country was established by an Act of Parliament in 2008 and became operational in 2010.
Mr Okello, acknowledges that the quality of work is compromised because of limited funding.
“The amount of money that Omoro receives for the opening of a community access road within a sub-county ranges from Shs5million and Shs14 million and the highest amount within a town council is Shs50 million,” he says.
The district boss says in most cases, they fail to install culvert crossings and pour murram on the roads.
A complete scope of work includes putting up bridges, culvert installation, drainage openings, road grading and putting murram.
“We have advised the community to generate projects that can be sponsored by Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (Nusaf) to enable them work on the roads. But the only challenge is that whenever Nusaf funds such projects, there is no specific budget for road maintenance,” Mr Okello says.
In Nwoya District, however, the situation is different. Mr Patrick Okello Oryema, the district chairperson, says business is booming.
“As Nwoya District, we have opened many community access roads and their status is good. We always tell locals that we own these roads and they voluntarily engage in their repair,” he says.
The district leadership uses local leaders to supervise community access roads.
“The only challenge is that the culverts used to construct the bridges cannot sustain heavy trucks because they were meant for light trucks. We plan to sit as council so that we can replace the culverts,” Mr Oryema adds.

Business prospects
Mr John Baptist Okello-Okello, the former Dokolo District chairperson, says roads play a vital role in boosting development.
“In Dokolo District, we have opened 200 kilometres of community access roads and you can notice improved access to education, market, and healthcare,” he says.
Like the case with most regions, agriculture is the main economic activity in the north. Farmers engage in mostly subsistence farming to feed their families and sell the surplus to raise money to meet family needs such as health and education.
Local leaders say for the community to exploit the potential of agriculture, they must be supported with a good road network.
Ms Loy Tino, an official at The Apac Anti-Corruption Coalition, a non-governmental organisation, operating in Lango Sub-region, says: “If farmers cannot access markets, they will lose morale to embrace commercial farming.”
“If the roads are good, more traders will go to the villages and offer good prices and the reverse is true,” she adds.
Speaking after the commissioning of Aringo Mone Small Scale Irrigation System in Pader District on March 7, President Museveni, said: “We are going now to tarmac the road from Rwenkunye – Masindi Port –Lira – Puranga, all the way to Acholibur and we are also going to tarmac the road from Kitgum District through Palabek-Apyeta to Atiak, and the road from Atiak-Adjumani to Moyo.”