Opinion: Leaders need to be creative if we are fix our roads

By Ahmed Wetaka 

Dear Editor

Kindly allow me to share my concerns about the state of our roads, especially in the suburbs of our cities, municipalities, and town councils. 

Most of our cities have got new roads especially covering the central business district thanks to projects such as the Kampala Infrastructure Development Program-KIDP for Kampala City and the Uganda Support to the Municipal Infrastructure Development Program-USMID for the original municipalities.

In addition to improving the movement around the central business district, the new roads have also improved the image of the beneficiary cities. 

However, a short distance from the CBD presents a different picture.

Most of the roads are either worn out because of years of neglect or are not paved. And the usual song from our leaders is lack of funding when asked about the current state of affairs.

This is largely true, given the meagre funds released by the central government to the authorities for road works. 

Uganda arguably has the highest cost of road construction. 

While the complaints of low funding are valid, I also think many of our leaders have failed to think outside the box by exploring other options of improving the road infrastructure in their jurisdiction given the available resources.

For example, why would all the leaders focus on bitumen, when they very well know they don’t have the resources? Why not explore the option of concrete pavers, which can be produced locally using cement and stone dust that are locally available?

I am very certain that concrete pavers can work as a suitable alternative for access roads for example in estates and residential areas.

Each time I pass around Acacia mall in Kamwokya and see the road built using concrete pavers, I feel like storming Mbale city hall and dragging the mayor and his team to show them this option can work in places like senior quarters, Indian quarters, and Namakwekwe estates. 

I keep asking myself whether our leaders learn anything from their travel to other cities across the world because we seem stuck. 

I recently went through several Kenyan towns and was mesmerised by the changes they had over the past few years. 

This is very possible even here if we made an extra effort and thought outside the box.

Since the authorities, always cite a lack of funds, it is possible for them to mobilize residents to contribute and fix the roads using these cheaper options and improve our towns and cities.

The author Ahmed Wetaka is a concerned citizen