Residents irked by poor roads in Sebei Sub-region

KAPCHORWA: The poor state of community roads in Sebei Sub-region is partly to blame for the poverty that residents face, as farmers find it difficult to deliver their agricultural produce to markets, or visit social facilities like health centres.

Worse still, the poor state of community roads in the region is one of the reasons for the hike in transport fares, especially the current rains that have rendered several roads in the area impassable.

Like the case with most areas in Uganda, agriculture is the main economic activity in Sebei sub-region. Farmers engage mostly in subsistence farming to feed their families. The surplus is sold to raise money for other family needs such as education, health, and opening small businesses.

Most residents in Sebei grow Irish potatoes, tomatoes, onions, maize, cabbages, and carrots,  among others demanded in areas like Mbale, Kampala, Jinja, Moroto and other districts.

Residents there say the bad roads hinder them from marketing their agricultural produce and accessing health facilities and education.

Stella Chebet, a teacher says: “The number of broken bridges is increasing and the local leadership has not been able to offer support.”

She adds that the bad state of roads has hindered social and economic activities. “For instance, children reach school when they are soaked and wet, patients are dying before reaching health facilities, fresh foodstuffs like Irish potatoes and tomatoes rot on the way because farmers cannot access markets due to impassable roads,” Chebet says.

Some of the horrible roads include Kapchesombe road, Sirono-mokoto road, Kaptokwoi-Tarta road, Chema-kapkwai, Chema-Ngangata among others.

Fundi Chemwok, an opinion leader and resident of Kujongi village, Chema Sub-county, blamed the poor state of the roads on the poor leadership in the area.

“There is political negligence in the area. There is no proper follow-up on government projects such as roads, health, and education among others. The money that comes from the centre to maintain roads is mostly misappropriated by some leaders,” Chemwok says.

Chemwok, a retired Journalist, said Members of Parliaments in the Sebei sub-region don’t attend council meetings.

“There is a gap between MPs and District councils and there is no Monitoring of government projects. Let MPs come on ground and assess the damages to the roads and other projects,” he said.

According to him, the roads have been in poor condition for a long time: “The rain has worsened it and it has affected transport in several areas, “he says.

The region is experiencing heavy rains. During this season, many roads become impassable.

Aggrey Chepkwurui a local musician, said it’s challenging to take the concert in the upper areas of Kapchorwa, Kween among others due to impassable roads.

“When it rains…it cuts off most of the roads in the region. People don’t turn up to the concert. We have been greatly affected,” Chepkwurui said.

Chepkwurui, who is also a farmer, said farmers cannot transport their produce to the market.

“Sometimes our leaders do shoddy work on the roads making it worse. The Government should intensify the monitoring and supervision of government projects. It’s just recently when the former State Minister for Economic Monitoring Peter Ogwang started monitoring the government projects and the result was good last year,” he said.

Ogwang’s one-week working visit in the districts of Bukwo, Kapchorwa and discovered many abandoned and some ghost projects despite full funding from government.

Several civil servants were arrested and charged with misuse of funds, Embezzlement, corruption, and negligence of duty by failing to supervise government projects which led to shoddy work and loss of taxpayers’ money. Others were interdicted.

Chepkwurui said the leaders have left locals to suffer on their own.

According to him, other motorists spend nights in their cars. The road will not give way to your four-wheel-drive car.

“It can send it rolling down the hills and it might as well crush and kill you,” he said. The few traders who make it to the villages to buy the produce offer very low prices compared to the dry season,” he said.

He said there is a need for the opening of community access roads to improve access to market, education, and healthcare.

Scovia Chemutai, a businesswoman, said the poor road network in the region has made it very difficult for expectant mothers to access health services.

Chemutai, who is seven months pregnant walks a distance of about 20 kilometers to attend her monthly Antenatal care at the nearest health centre.

“The roads are bad and there are no public vehicles that go to the area because of the deplorable state of the road in the area. During the rainy season, most of the roads get flooded and small vehicles cannot pass through because of the poor road network,” he said.

She said the residents in some areas in the region only use big trucks as their mode of transport, but women who cannot manage to climb such trucks, have no option but to walk, hence making it hard for them to access health services.

“It is not only sad but also dangerous for a pregnant woman to walk long distances considering the fact that the environment is not friendly. It has been hard for expectant mothers, ”she says.

She said she gets tired of walking, but that she has no option since she needs the health services.

“If it wasn’t for my condition, I wouldn’t have been walking much. So, I think this could be my last pregnancy. I have four children and I have endured this every time I get pregnant, but now I think I can’t do it anymore,” she said.

She says that patients seek better facilities either in Kapchorwa or Kitale in Kenya.

An investigation conducted by this reporter in the region revealed that the situation had also led to some pregnant mothers delivering on their way to the health centre while others delivered at home.

The roads in the area are in a dilapidated state.

“This has made it hard for pregnant mothers as they are being forced to walk long distances to reach health centres.

But to help save the lives of people in the area, especially pregnant mothers, residents have teamed up and started working on the bridge to make it passable.

Simon Peter Chesang, an elder, said there are developments in the area but poor roads are chasing away investors.

“The investors who would help Kapchorwa and Sebei as a region to grow have taken off due to impassable roads. And this has left our area behind in terms of developments,” Chesang said.

He expressed anger over the failure of the local government and central government officials to repair roads in the sub-region.

“Politicians visit us here only when they are begging for votes or when a very important person dies or when there is a function in the area. But generally, they do not care about us,” he said.

According to him, some children have dropped out of school because of fear of the dilapidated roads. “When roads are in good shape, it makes it easier for us to move to the market and sell our produce.”

He says roads play a vital role in boosting development in the respective areas.

“If the roads are in good condition, more traders will go to the villages and offer good prices and the reverse is true,” he adds.

Peruth Chemutai, a gold medalist, said they are facing challenges to do jogging and training in the area.

“We are facing a big problem with training and jogging. The roads are very bad and yesterday [Friday] I survived falling in the stream with my vehicle because the bridge collapsed and it’s narrow on top of being slippery off the road,” Chemutai says.

She appeals to the government to improve the road networks in the area.

“My husband and my father-in-law have mobilized money to repair the collapsed bridge after the authorities neglected it. We are using our little resources to improve the bridge after waiting for years without any intervention from the government,” she said.

She said the bad state of the roads makes them incur higher vehicle repair costs, among other excuses.

Tinge County MP, Twalla Fadil, said the quality of roads is deteriorating because the funds are inadequate.

“To make the matter worse, the money does not come in time. we have a larger road network,but the money given to us is little. Our roads are now impassable due to the rains,” Fadil said.

He tasked the government to increase the fundings in the road sector.

He observed that the current allocation for road maintenance is very low with some districts receiving as little as Shs 25 million a quarter from Uganda Road Fund [URF], which is inadequate for maintenance of roads that are cut off by the heavy rains.

The Bubulo East MP, John Musila, said the districts, sub-counties, and town councils are grappling with collapsed road infrastructure. “I wish the Finance Minister constituted a committee to visit the rural areas,” Musila says.

Stephen Chemonges, a resident of Cheptecho village in the Western Division, said they have decided to work on the Barawa-Chesikwa-Kapchol bridge on their own.

“We have decided to work on the affected bridge in our area because this is one of the main training athletics roads in the area. I have budgeted Shs 45mln to repair this bridge,” he said.

He said the Municipality leadership has repeatedly promised to work on the bridge but in vain.

“They came here and put a signpost indicating that they have worked on the bridge and yet not. We have complained but they keep tossing us every time we go to their offices,” Chemonges said.

The Kapchorwa district engineer, Joseph Musobo Bukose, acknowledges that his administration has done little to repair the dilapidated roads but he was quick to blame it on inadequate funding.

“We don’t get enough funds to work on all these roads. There are frequent budget cuts that have affected the road sector. Maintaining 1km of the road in Kapchorwa is equivalent to maintaining the 5km in the lower belt,” Musobo said.

He said some bridges which were constructed some years back have rotten timbers.

Musobo says several bridges in the district have broken down and the district does not have the capacity to work on them because of financial constraints.

“We need to repair these bridges and repair roads we don’t have,” he says.

The engineer also blamed the poor roads in the area on people who destroy the drainage affecting the roads.

“We want to plant trees to keep our roads safe. People don’t respect road reserves,” he says.

He said the government should have considered mountainous districts separately.

“Maintaining these roads in the mountainous areas is not challenging. We need special funds for mountainous districts due to their terrain. At the moment it’s difficult to attend to emergencies,” he said.

He said although the district was supposed to get Shs 242mln from road funds last financial year, they only received Shs 135mln.

He said although Kapchorwa district has 537kms of roads, only 80 kilometres were worked on while 13kms  are for routine maintenance, ”he said.

According to him, most of the bridges are in a sorry state.

“Due to lack of funds, we only worked on four bridges. We are planning to work on two more bridges if we get the funds. This financial year we are yet to receive Shs 25mln for the whole district to work on roads which is not enough,” he said.

He said the district is stuck with poor roads due to inadequate funds.

The Kapchorwa Municipal Council town clerk, Samuel Robert Okwir, blamed the poor roads on the terrain.

“The terrain of this area is bad and most of the areas have rocks. Funding is little. This financial year we are yet to receive Shs 26mln and yet this is one of the largest Municipalities in the country,” he said, adding that Shs 26mln cannot do anything.

Motorists are forced to spend hours maneuvering through potholes and slippery roads.

This reporter learned that most of the affected roads in the heart of Kapchorwa Municipality connect to various hotels, schools, health centres, and places of worship, among others.

The Kapchorwa Municipal town engineer, Bob Cherop, said the entire Sebei region has unique terrains.

“This place is hilly and sloppy. To put murram on the road…you need Shs 56mln per Kms and getting the same murram is a challenge. You get murram 30kms away,” Cherop said.

According to him, Kapchorwa Municipality has 431kms of roads.

“Some of the roads are gazette but not open yet and others have not been maintained due to funds. We need at least Shs 4 billion to work on these roads. This money can do some good work,” he said.

He acknowledges that the quality of work is compromised because of limited funding.

“The amount of money that Kapchorwa Municipality receives for the opening of a community and repairing access roads within the Municipality ranges from Shs 26 mln- Shs 96mln,” he says.

He says in most cases, they fail to install culvert crossings and put murram on the roads due to lack of funds.

He said a complete scope of work includes putting up bridges, culvert installation, drainage openings, road grading, and working on them using murram on them.

“The government sends Shs 92mln per quarter. What can that money do? As Engineers our hands are tight and even that little money delays to come and yet the quarter is ending this month, ”he said.

He told this Reporter that the residents are right to complain about bad roads.

“Vehicles are getting stuck on the road whenever it rains and yet we don’t have money to work on the roads. We have another challenge of fuel. You need about Shs 1.6mln to fuel one grader and laying one culvert needs Shs6m and yet you’re getting Shs 26mln.

He said the Sebei Sub-region needs a stone crusher.

Kween County MP, William Chemonges, says: “Whereas the citizens complain that the government is not doing enough to work on the roads, the problem is actually with some local government administrations who misuse the money.”

Cornelias Kemboi district councilor Kween said residents in the region were last week displaced by floods as River Atari burst its banks.

He said over 500 people were left homeless and property worth millions destroyed after the River Atari in Kween District broke its banks after a heavy downpour. The most affected sub-counties are Ngenge, Sundet, and Kiriki sub-counties.

“The floods have left bridges destroyed, paralyzing transport and cutting off some sub-counties from accessing health centers, schools, and markets,” he said.

URF has released Shs 68.482bln to all districts for the maintenance of various public roads.

According to a notice to all accounting officers, Kween District received Shs 68.3mln, Kapchorwa district received Shs 35.6mln.

Today, the responsibility to open and maintain roads lies between the Uganda National Road Authority [UNRA] and local governments.

For instance, in the first quarter of 2022/2023 financial year, URF released Shs 68 billion to district local governments in the country for routine and periodic maintenance of various categories of public roads.

URF, the body that ensures road maintenance in the country was established by an Act of Parliament in 2008 and became operational in 2010.

Uganda has one of the poorest road networks in east Africa, according to the Development and Cooperation newsletter. The newsletter states that the bad state of roads in Uganda is holding back growth, regional trade, and development.

The newsletter states that graft and slow government action concerning procurement and construction are hindering the establishment of good road networks in the country.

https://thecooperator.news/poor-roads-hindering-growth-of-tourism-sector-in-elgon-districts/

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