The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has hosted State Minister for Transport, Ministry of Works & Transport, Fred Byamukama on a familiarization tour of the sector. In her welcoming remarks, the UNRA Executive Director, Allen Kagina, assured the new Minister of UNRA’s support as he supervises the Transport sector.
“In UNRA, you have a highly skilled and technically competent agency that will ensure not only the achievement of National Development Plan III but the social and economic transformation of our nation,” she said.
“I am here to learn how UNRA works. Together, we shall improve the livelihoods of our people. Let’s share ideas, I am ready to help UNRA,” Fred Byamukama said in his opening remarks. “I have heard good things about UNRA, and look forward to being part of the transformational journey that you are leading across the nation,” he concluded.
Led by the ED, the UNRA leadership team presented to Byamukama the various initiatives UNRA is undertaking in enabling the growth of Uganda’s economy.
During the presentation, the Director of Network Planning and Engineering, Eng. Isaac Wani, shared that in compliance with NDP 3, UNRA plans to deliver; 3,532km of road upgrades, 32km of capacity improvement, 6 strategic bridges and designing 435km road expressways. The Directorate of Procurement shared that in the last 3 ½ years (2017 -2020), contracts worth UGX 2.15 Trillion have been awarded to local contractors, in a UNRA deliberate effort to support the capacity of Ugandan/local firms.
Achievements
“In recognition of UNRA’s efforts, CoST Uganda (a Global Infrastructure Transparency Initiative with participating countries spanning four continents) awarded UNRA ‘Best Implementer of Local Content Policy’ and ‘Most Transparent Procurement Entity”, the Director Procurement, John Omeke revealed.
The Directorate of Legal Services, Mary Kuteesa, highlighted that since 2015, owing to the effort of the internal legal team, UNRA had achieved a 100% conviction rate for all concluded criminal cases, with UGX. 300Billion saved in legal fees and reduced claims. To highlight its incredible efficiency, the Directorate said that it had achieved 81% contract approval within two weeks of submission to the Solicitor General and had authored & implemented 17 Policies and 3 Regulations.
The Director of Roads and Bridges, Eng Sam Muhoozi, in his presentation, highlighted that 29 projects equivalent to 1,791.6 Km of upgrade projects have been completed between 2016 and June 2021 (5 years 6 months) compared to 17 projects equivalent to 998 Km completed in 7 years from 2008 to 2015, a 44% increase in the number of kms. Additionally, 1,156.7Km of roads have been rehabilitated, 43 bridge projects constructed, 219.7 Km of Town Roads constructed and 17,759.85 ha of land acquired.
Pearl Bank Celebrates Customers in Festive Campaign Dubbed Pearl Santa“Competent in project management, this Directorate ensured that the average cost increase due to Variation of Price (VOP) for 16 major upgrade projects was maintained at 2.49%, compared to VOP of over 20% before 2015. For (13) out of the 19 major upgrade projects, the cost of design improvements during project implementation have been managed within the original contract at no extra cost, signifying the extra care UNRA undertakes to ensure that taxpayers’ money is prudently managed,” he said.
As he concluded, the Director indicated that the Unit Cost per Km of land acquisition from the 45 projects for the In-House Land Acquisition team is UGX 8 Million and the Consultant/private sector unit cost is at UGX 13 Million. This has translated into an aggregated reduction in the cost of acquiring land on Road Projects by 64.5%
Transportation of persons and cargo
The Acting Director, Directorate Roads Infrastructure Protection, John Bosco Ssejemba, shared that owing to 11 ferries in operation, 10.8 million passengers had been transported the past 5years. Additionally, 11 Fixed Weigh Stations and 5 Mobile Weigh Bridges are operational to ensure that the national roads are not overloaded. For those that had breached the overloading threshold, fines worth UGX. 3.5Billion has been paid by transporters in fines. This penalty system, introduced in 2015 when 52% of transporters were overloading national roads, has achieved a considerable reduction to only 3% of transporters overloading national roads.
In her presentation, Director Human Resource, Ms. Jennifer Kaggwa, highlighted that the number of fully registered engineers in URA is 101, with the UNRA Graduate Engineering Program skilling 49 graduate engineers. All members of UNRA’s senior leadership team have undergone the prestigious Exceed Leadership Program. ‘This is a deliberate effort to ensure that all the mission-critical national initiatives that UNRA undertakes are overseen by extremely competent resources,’ she concluded.
Ms. Edna Rugumayo, Director Corporate Services, assured the meeting that owing to the adoption of technology, UNRA operations had not been significantly affected by the Covid19 pandemic. “We have automated most of our processes, this has greatly aided our efficiency in delivering the much sought-after world class road services that citizens demand,” Rugumayo remarked.
Moses Kasakya, Director Internal Audit, shared that his Directorate had saved tax payers UGX. 50Billion that would have been paid out in ineligible payments. ‘We have reduced flaws in Interim Payment Certificates to 2% (March 2021). It was 19% in November 2015,’ Moses concluded. UNRA is steadfast in its resolve to connect all of Uganda through world class road and bridges infrastructure thereby spurring the exponential economic growth of the nation.
