Published on 30/12/2024
Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has officially ceased operations, transferring its offices, assets and responsibilities to the Ministry of Works and Transport.
In a formal ceremony held in Kampala, former UNRA executive director Allen Kagina, alongside past directors and senior managers, handed over the organization’s tools of service. These were received by State Minister for Works Musa Ecweru and Permanent Secretary Bageya Waiswa. The transition marks the dissolution of UNRA and the integration of its functions into the ministry.
In the Ministry, functions of UNRA will fall under the Department of National Roads.
The scrapping of UNRA and mainstreaming of its functions into the Ministry of Works and Transport was part of the Rationalization of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) policy, which aims to merge, mainstream, and rationalize various government agencies, commissions, and authorities to reduce redundancy, eliminate duplication, and optimize public expenditure.
At first, Parliament rejected the government proposal to mainstream the Uganda National Roads Authority into the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The lawmakers were arguing that there was no mandate overlap on duplication of services, noting that the role of the ministry is limited to policy formulation, regulation, setting of standards, monitoring, and evaluation.
The Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee report released in April 2024 said that the value of the national road network being managed by UNRA is a huge portfolio that requires specialized and efficient management to avoid the country incurring major losses.
In the report, the lawmakers said that since inception, UNRA has fulfilled its mandate.
“The role of UNRA in the management, development, and maintenance of national road infrastructure is critical to the performance of the Works and Transport sector and the country’s development aspirations in light of Uganda being a transit and landlocked country. Mainstreaming UNRA into the Ministry of Works and Transport will lead to the same challenges experienced in the past that led the same ministry to spearhead the formation of UNRA and would necessitate future reforms to recreate UNRA for this reason. It is recommended that the government should retain UNRA as a semi-autonomous road agency,” the report reads.
However, President Museveni maintained that semi-autonomous government agencies, including UNRA, were a waste of resources, calling them “parasitic.”
Parliament would later reconsider and pass the Uganda National Roads Authority Act (Repeal) Bill 2024 that dissolved UNRA and integrated its functions into the Ministry of Works and Transport.
On December 18, 2024, Gloria Asio Omaswa, Principal Private Secretary to President Museveni, announced that the Head of State had assented to the Uganda National Roads Authority (Repeal) Act, 2024, and eight other RAPEX Acts.
Recently, the Ministry said that essential and critical staff of UNRA, including those managing weighbridge operations, ferry services, and ongoing projects, will be offered local contracts for three months to ensure continuity of essential services.
