The man behind Uganda Road Fund

It is one year since, Dr Eng. Andrew Naimanye, was appointed by the finance minister as the acting Executive Director / Board Secretary of Uganda Road Fund (URF).

Dr Naimanye is also the Accounting Officer of Road Fund, which he joined at its commencement in January 2010.

He spoke to New Vision about his work.

I was educated at King's College, Budo for both my O'level and A'level.

After which, I joined the University of Leeds in England (UK), where I obtained a bachelors' degree in civil engineering, master's in transport planning and engineering, and a PhD in transport economics.

I also completed an MBA majoring in finance and accounting.

I am a chartered engineer who worked in the UK for 12 years for the UK Highways Agency and Civil Engineering consultancy firms, and I returned to Uganda in 2010 as part of the pioneer management team that started the Uganda Road Fund (URF).

I was the pioneer head of the pivotal planning and programming department and superintended over road maintenance work plans analysis and financing amounting to over $946m (about sh3.5 trillion) for UNRA, KCCA, seven cities, 134 districts, 34 municipalities, 227 town councils and 1,155 sub-counties.

What is the road fund?

The road fund is an institution set up on the fee-for-service principle to collect Road User Charges (RUCs) which are then used to provide an adequate, secure and sustainable source of funds for road network maintenance.

A road fund principally enshrines market principles in public road management through charging for road use on a fee (not taxes) for service basis and applying proceeds to finance maintenance of roads and ensure an acceptable level of service and good road conditions.

It is a fundamental pillar in road asset preservation.