Museveni’s Sh1 Billion Road Fund Guidelines Set a New Standard for Accountability and Service Delivery

What the report says

Dokolo Post reports that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has issued executive guidelines for the annual Sh1 billion road maintenance allocation to each district, city and municipality in Uganda. The money is earmarked for rehabilitation and maintenance of community access roads, with the stated aim of improving links between rural communities, markets, schools and health facilities.

According to the article, the guidelines require each local government to create a dedicated force account for the allocation, separate from other road-related financing streams such as the Uganda Road Fund, the Transitional Road Rehabilitation Grant and the National Oil Seed Project. Administrative spending is also capped, with local governments barred from using more than 10% of the allocation for servicing, repairing and maintaining road equipment.

The reported directives establish district and municipal road committees involving Members of Parliament, LC5 chairpersons, Chief Administrative Officers, District Internal Security Officers and engineers. Works departments are expected to submit quarterly reports, procurement plans, designs and planning figures by the 15th day of every quarter. Local governments must also hold quarterly public barazas and display project information on public notice boards.

Dokolo Post says the guidelines discourage hiring supervision consultants, instead directing local governments to rely on competent technical staff or support from the Ministry of Works and Transport. The article also reports requirements on safety, environmental protection, climate considerations, HIV/AIDS awareness, gender mainstreaming and pandemic preparedness. Accounting officers who fail to comply could face administrative action from the Ministries of Local Government and Finance. The article was written by Mathias Lutwama, Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Alebtong District, and presents the measures as an accountability test for local road service delivery.