Writes Leo Odera Omolo
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has vowed to work on all feeder roads across the country to improve on the transport network in rural areas.
Museveni was speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of Kitabi Seminary in Bushenyi as the institution, founded in 1935, marked 75 years on Saturday.
Bishop Edward Baharagate, Museveni, Bishop John Baptist Kakubi and Bakyenga at Kitabi Seminary on Saturday
The President said while the Government had funds to build new village roads and improve existing ones, the problem was the people fighting for tenders.
He noted that Mbarara-Ishaka-Katungu road will be fully rehabilitated. Others to be re-built are Mbarara-Isingiro-Kikagate road that links to Tanzania, Ishaka-Kagamba road and Ishaka-Ntungamo-Katuna road that links Uganda to Rwanda Continued From Page 1
Road transport is the most common in Uganda. The road transport system comprises about 10,000km of classified main roads (trunk, secondary and tertiary), about 25,000km of district (feeder) roads, 2,800km of urban roads, and 30,000km of community access roads.
The national (trunk) road network carries 80% of Uganda’s traffic. National roads include international routes linking Uganda to neighbouring countries and to the sea (through Kenya and Tanzania), and internal roads linking large populations, commercial and administration centres.
About 2,200km out of a total of 10,000km of national roads are tarmacked and the rest are murram.
The Government is implementing an on-going programme of continuous upgrading of key gravel roads to bitumen standard.
At the same function at Kitabi, Museveni laid the foundation stone for the construction of a sh500m multi-purpose hall.
He contributed sh20m to the platinum jubilee and sh60m for construction of the hall.
The President also unveiled a bus which the school purchased at sh175m.
Hundreds of old boys, including Archbishop Paul K. Bakyenga, 2nd deputy Prime Minister, Henry Kajura and Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, attended the function.
Bakyenga observed that Museveni was the first elected President of Uganda to visit the seminary.
The school has an enrolment of about 535 students. It produced nine bishops, over 200 priests and over 3,835 carders in the society.
The President hailed the school for training leaders, whom he said have contributed a lot to the development of Uganda.
He thanked NRM members in Bushenyi district for entrusting him as their party flag-bearer and promised to make the party stronger.
Museveni also thanked them for the continuous support they have given the party since 1986 after the bush war.
‘We did not come from the bush with votes but when we reached here, you supported us with your votes. You have given us votes in 1996, in 2006 and your votes are the foundation for the development encountered in this country,” he said.
Museveni reminded the people of Bushenyi that because of the peace ushered in by the NRM government, Uganda’s tax collection had increased 1,000 times since 1986.
Ends