The government has been authorized by Parliament to obtain a loan from Standard Chartered Bank up to the amount of Euro 110,543,947.52 (about Shs 450 billion).
The 115-kilometer Kitgum-Kidepo Road upgrade project, which connects the Kitgum and Kaabong districts, is the intended beneficiary of the loan.
Speaker Anita Among and distinguished Members of Parliament were present when the move for approval was persuasively made during the plenary session on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, by the Hon. Henry Musasizi, Minister of State for Finance (General Duties).
In outlining the reasons for giving the road upgrade first priority, Minister Musasizi emphasized the road’s critical role in supporting tourism and regional development.
“With 5.9 kilometers of paved national roads per 1,000 square kilometers of land area, this sub-region has the lowest road density,” he said. He went on to emphasize the project’s importance in tackling the socioeconomic issues the highly impoverished Karamoja subregion faces.
Additionally, Minister Musasizi emphasized the rebuilt road’s strategic significance in enabling improved connectivity and trade with neighboring nations including South Sudan and Kenya.
He underlined that Uganda’s tourism potential has not been fully realized due to inadequate tourism infrastructure, particularly highways, which force visitors to travel over poor quality dirt roads in order to reach national parks.
Legislators, who were tasked with examining the loan request, expressed concern, nevertheless, about the lack of a report from the House Committee on National Economy. The debate might now continue without the committee’s findings after Government Chief Whip Hon. Denis Hamson Obua made a proposal to waive the requirement.
The decision to move forward with the debate was made in spite of objections raised by a number of Members of Parliament, including the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Senyonyi, Hon. Jonathan Odur (UPC, Erute County South), and Hon. Ssemujju Nganda (FDC, Kira Municipality).
Senyonyi warned about the possible consequences associated with faulty agreements and voiced concerns about creating a precedent of approving deals without adequate inspection. “Government enters into problematic agreements a lot,” he said. The Committee was notified of the situation, but it has not yet prepared a report.
However, the majority’s choice to move forward with the loan approval highlights Parliament’s dedication to fixing infrastructural shortcomings and promoting economic development in the northeastern part of Uganda.
The loan approval is a major step toward achieving the Kitgum-Kidepo Road improvement project’s revolutionary potential in Uganda’s socioeconomic environment.
It is a historic decision meant to boost economic growth in the northeastern part of Uganda and solve infrastructure deficiencies.
