Hundreds of traders and other passengers plying between Yumbe and Obongi districts are stranded after their vehicles got stuck in the muddy road section.
Over six trucks and cars got stuck on the road that was just recently worked on by Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA).
Some women found stranded on the muddy road said they were taking their children for immunization.
The operators of a bus belonging to Nile Star that was returning from Obongi District said Monday afternoon that they had been stuck since Sunday (October 11, 2020).
A frustrated traveler, Ms Palma Kiden from Gimara Sub-county on Obongi district, said that on Monday that: “We have been paying taxes with hope that this road would be improved. There is no point of voting when we suffer like this on road every time it rains.” Advertisement
Mr Mambo Tairi, the BLD Consults driver who broke his hand in the process of controlling his truck, said: “I broke my arm after it got stuck in the steering wheel as I tried to control the truck that was about to overturn. Business is very difficult here because of the bad road.”
However, the bad state of the road has become a blessing in disguise for the youth who are charging Shs 50,000 to push the cars from the mud.
The Obongi County MP, Mr Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, blamed the poor state of the road on what he described as poor workmanship.
“This road has become worse resulting from poor workmanship. UNRA started working on it without proper culvert and drainage system. We raised the matter of pouring murram on this road but this has not been done and people are suffering daily,” he said.
The UNRA Road Maintenance Engineer for Moyo Station, Mr Gerald Alukionzi when contacted, said: “That stretch is low and that is why we had to pour the black so in order to raise it then we would pour the murram to make it compact.”
He said the work on the road has delayed because of the machine breakdown.
“Now we are stockpiling murram to restart the work on the 45 Kms road stretch,” he said.
Recent incident
Last week, a 22 year-old man drowned in a waterlogged road connecting Kamod-Kabola villages in Serere District.
Charles Olinga was found dead by boat operators stationed at the 4km road section.
In his Independence speech recently, President Museveni said the NRM government has invested heavily in transport to improve the country’s connectivity through a vast network of good roads and restoration of Uganda Airlines.
“We now have a total of 5,550km of paved roads,” Mr Museveni said on October 9, 2020.
Some of the roads nearing completion (at least 75% completion), according to the president include: Bulima-Kabwoya (66Km); Kyenjojo-Kabwoya (100Km); Mubende-Kakumiro-Kagadi (107Km); BumbobiLwakhakha (44.5KM); Soroti-Katakwi-Akisim (100KM); Akisim-Moroto (50KM); Kapchorwa-Suam (73Km); and Kyenjojo-Fort-Portal (50Km).
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