By Melanie Aanyu,

The Uganda Road Fund (URF) is seeking Shs231.33 billion towards road maintenance across the country.

URF executive director Andrew Naimanye made the request to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, in an April 28, 2022, letter.
Mr Naimanye noted that URF is currently operating on a budget of Shs483.03 billion for the maintenance of all public roads in Uganda.

However, he noted that for the four quarters of FY 2021/2022, the cumulative release was Shs251.69 billion, resulting into a funding shortfall of Shs231.33 billion.

He explained that the inadequate quarterly cash releases have created financial challenges hence affecting the implementation of the planned maintenance works across the roads network.

The effects of the shortfall, Mr Naimanye said, include failure to pay contractors with more than Shs160b owed for certified works, which means the latter are unable to meet their loan obligations from the banks among others.

The agencies include Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), cities and districts.