Mbarara voters want roads, industrial parks

CITIZENS’ NEEDS

By Nelson Kiva, Fred Turyakira and Edward Anyoli

MBARARA - Mbarara city, often referred to as the ‘city of milk,’ is the bustling heart of southwestern Uganda. Sitting about 266km from the capital Kampala, it is a major commercial hub for southwestern Uganda.

Its markets such as Kakyeka buzz with traders from the region, Kampala, Rwanda, DR Congo and Tanzania. Mbarara’s iconic spots such as the Clock Tower, Ankole Western Museum and nearby Lake Mburo National Park blend culture with wildlife charm.

Service delivery gaps 

The mayor of Mbarara city, Robert Kakyebezi, said the priority is to achieve a modern city while imploring the central government to enact a dedicated law for regional cities.

He said the lack of legal clarity and funding undermines service delivery in all the cities.

“Since we were granted city status, we have never received a governing law or document. While the number of political and administrative structures increased, the necessary funding did not come along,” Kakyebezi said.

The elevation of Mbarara municipality to city status in 2020, he said, never came with extra funding yet the leadership structures increased.

Roads  

Kakyebezi cited the example of the road sector, saying as a municipality, they used to get over sh1.2b from the defunct Uganda Road Fund, but that money has reduced to below sh400m. In 2020, Parliament approved 15 cities to be implemented in phases.

Mbarara, Arua, Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal, Mbale and Masaka were operationalised in the first phase.

Hoima, Soroti and Lira took effect on July 1, 2021. Others such as Entebbe, Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale and Wakiso are still pending. According to civil and political administrators, Mbarara city’s growth is guided by a five-year development plan targeting sh200b to upgrade roads, health facilities and schools.

Other plans include paving new roads, upgrading health centres and constructing over 70 classrooms in 18 primary schools to improve service delivery.

Kakyebezi wants government to sort out the issue of property between Mbarara district and Mbarara city, saying since Mbarara was elevated to city status, there has been confusion.

He said Mbarara district have refused to surrender public property falling within the city’s area of jurisdiction such as Mbarara district administration offices. The district headquarters are meant to shift to their new home in Bwizibwera in Kashari county, but this is yet to be implemented.

Industrial park  

The mayor equally implored leaders to establish a regional industrial park in Mbarara to supplement the Rushozi Presidential Skilling Hub that has over time absorbed the growing number of unemployed youth in the city and Greater Ankole.

Voters said critical linking bridges such as Katete, Kanyeyite and Taso-Kibero, which has crumbled, also need to be fixed.

The need to construct more markers to create market for farmers’ produce and the upgrade of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital to a national referral and elevating Mbarara Health Centre IV to a regional hospital are the other demands voters have put across.

The challenges the voters and the leaders in Mbarara face are similar to those voters from Rwampara and the entire Ankole sub-region cited.

Education needs 

Didas Tabaro Tumwesigye, the Mbarara LC5 chairperson, said there is a need to improve the standards of the infrastructure, especially in schools because some schools do not have structures that can accommodate the learners, and no staff houses.

“Another area is health because we have some sub-counties that don’t have health centres III, we also need an increment for budget allocations for roads,” Tumwesigye said.

Rwampara was operationalised in on July 1, 2019, after a parliamentary legislation that split Mbarara district. Predominantly rural, Rwampara is known for fertile soils that support coffee, bananas, piggery and dairy farming.

Rwampara is currently functioning with a budget of sh2b.

The district LC5 chairperson, Richard Ow’omugasho, said the budget is not enough to tackle service delivery challenges.

However, the district political boss proudly celebrated the fact that they have been able to complete the over sh1.2b district headquarters complex in the last four years.

“We have also been able to work on roads, water, and recruiting staff, among others. Three facilities have been upgraded from health centre II to III. They include Nyaruhandagazi, Nyarukungu and Kibare,” Ow’omugasho said.

He added that paving of major roads such as Rwampara, including Ruti-Mwizi-Kabuyanda (54km) and 52km, Buteraniro?Bugamba- Ngugo-Rwoho-Kikagate is a key deliverable that must be worked on.

“We also want a district hospital by upgrading Bugamba Health Centre IV to a hospital. Rwampara is still water-stressed like the entire parish of Kitojo in Bugamba, and many parts of Mwizi sub-county are also water-stressed,” he said.

Electricity  

Ow’omugasho said with electricity, it is yet to cover all the parishes in the district. For instance, he said in Kitojo and Nyaruhandagazi, there is no any electric pole.

Citizens’ Manifesto  

The voters’ concerns in Mbarara, Rwampara and the entire Ankole sub-region are also reflected in the New Vision Citizens Manifesto conducted between March and May, where prospective voters highlighted key bottlenecks undermining service delivery in the spheres of healthcare, security, roads infrastructure, water and sanitation, poverty, unemployment, power connectivity, education, agricultural services, land management, crimes and leadership.

For instance, only about 18.7% of the respondents in Mbarara were okay with the state of health services, while in education more than 86% believe something should be done to improve the sector’s performance.

Only 12.7% of the respondents in the district approved of the state of roads and transport as more than 87% suggested more needed to be done in the spirit of better social services.

To ensure a national outlook, the Citizens’ Manifesto and Opinion Poll survey involved 6,006 respondents from 58 districts across the 17 sub-regions. The respondents were randomly sampled from both rural and urban setups.

One other key achievement voters and leaders are celebrating in Mbarara, is the River Kagera water project to address water scarcity in Mbarara city and Isingiro district. The project is approaching completion.

This intervention, voters said, will cure the challenge of access to clean and safe water in the area.

Youth unemployment  

Ritah Atukwasa Bwahika, the Mbarara City woman legislator, said the issue of unemployment of the youth and women needs to be tackled through interventions such as industrialisation.

Expert view 

Habiib Musa Ssemakula, a mass communication don, said the President needs to address the challenges faced by cattle keepers in Mbarara/city and Rwampara, particularly the shortage of water and grazing land.

He said the region is predominantly occupied by cattle keepers who struggle during dry seasons due to limited water sources, often leading to long journeys in search of water and, in some cases, the loss of animals.

Ssemakula said despite Uganda having abundant water resources, the Government has not adequately addressed this issue.

Voters, area leaders speak out 

Benon Rafiki, Rwobuyenje  

There is a need to address the issue of garbage management, because there are some areas where vehicles collecting garbage don’t reach. We need lights on our roads to curtail insecurity.

Anita Nsimeta, Makenke resident  

I appeal to the President to emphasise environmental protection and also allocate funds to work on the drainages, because when it rains, water floods people’s homes.

Capt (RTD) JB Tumusiime Bamuturaki, Kashari  

The President should extend power and water to all villages to boost businesses and the well-being of our communities.

Agatha Atusasire, Mbarara City  

There is an issue of understaffing in schools. Some schools have only four teachers to teach in all classes from Primary One up to Primary Seven.

Bright Muhumuza, Mbarara City  

I want the President to tackle the issue of corruption and infrastructure gaps.