Section of Mukwano Road to be closed for rehabilitation, 11-14 August 2007

[News Date: 10th August 2007]

During the period 11-14 August 2007, a section of Mukwano road between the junction at Mukwano's main gate and the road leading to Kibuli Police Training School will be closed to traffic to enable installation of drainage culverts across the road.

Assurance of Improved Road condition with lawful coming into being of the Road Fund.

[News Date: 10th August 2007]

In an exclusive interview conducted by the The New Vision with the Hon. Minister of Works and Transport, Eng. John Nasasira, the Minister assured Ugandans that when the Road Fund is established by law this year, there will be sufficient funding for periodic road maintenance. This is in preparation for CHOGM 2007. During the month of August 2007, major repairs will also be carried out on Queen's Way Kampala and Yusuf Lule roads, among others. The public will be informed of the temporary road closures and recommended alternative routes when necessary.

Upgrading of the 76.0km Busunju-Kiboga-Hoima Highway is expected to be complete in January 2008. The project commenced on 9th July 2001. The contractor submitted a claim for extension of time for delays due to recent fuel shortages. It will be possible to complete the main items on the project (i.e. base and asphalt surfacing) by the end of January 2008. The Progress Chart for the highway can be downloaded here.

The Ministry of Works and Transport organised a retreat of the Senior Officials of MoWT with Members of the Parliamentary Sessional Committee on Physical Infrastructure at Speke Resort Hotel and Conference Center, Kampala, 1-3 August 2007. More

Engineers' Workshop

[News Date: Monday 9th July 2007]

A one-day sensitization workshop on the Principles and Operational Modalities on the Uganda Road Fund was held yesterday, 9^th July 2007 at Statistics House, MFPED in Kampala. The workshop was attended by over 160 District, Municipal and Station Engineers and Engineers from MoWT responsible for road maintenance. A Draft Report of this workshop is now available for download. More

The mid-term review of RSDP2 and rollover to RSDP3 (Road Sub-Sector Investment Plan) has commenced effective from 23rd July 2007. SEREFACO Consultants Ltd in association with COWI Uganda Ltd on Monday, 23rd July 2007 signed the agreement of EURO 231,516.50, inclusive of taxes. The assignment is expected to last 24 Weeks ending on 31 December 2007. The Consultant's Work plan is available for download.

Allocations for District and Urban Roads

[News Date: 2nd July 2007]

For F/Y 2007/8, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development increased the budget allocation for the maintenance of District and Urban Roads from 18 billion to 29 billion and from 4 billion to 11.5 billion for district and urban roads respectively. For Kampala alone, the budget was increased from approximately 0.5 billion to 15 billion. This was unveiled to the public in a Statement of the Chairman of the Road Fund Steering Committee and Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury, also published in the New Vision of Tuesday 3rd July 2007 and The Monitor of 5th July 2007.

Cabinet Approves Finance Bill

[News Date: Thursday 12th July 2007]

Cabinet approved the Finance Bill 2007 on Wednesday 11th July 2007. The object of the Bill is to provide for the alteration of the tax base for hides and skins; exemption of motor vehicles, trailers and engineering plants from road licences and fees, establishment of the Road Fund; the waiver of interest and penalties for voluntary disclosure of tax liability; amendment of the Finance Act, 2006 to change the fees relating to services and various documents under the Traffic and Road Safety Act, 1998, Cap.361 and to extend the scope of the environmental levy payment of bonuses to Uganda Revenue Authority in respect of meeting targets of collection of revenue and for related matters.

International Best Practices

There exists vast information on local, regional and international best practices related to the necessity, effective and efficient operation of Roads Funds all over the world. You will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files.

Financing Road Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa Get a Copy

Involvement of Road Users in Road Maintenance: Zambia's Experience Get a Copy

Road Fund Management Practices: Kenya's Experience Get a Copy

Assessment of Road Funds in Africa Get a Copy

Principles of A Road Fund Get a Copy

Knowledge Sharing

Daniel Tindiwensi, Proposed Construction Output Price Indices: A Concept Paper

Robin Carruther, Why and When Road Funds are a good Idea

Mark Thriscutt's Article 1: Managing Roads: Facts of Life

Mark Thriscutt's Article 2: Managing Roads: Who Should Pay?

Mark Thriscutt's Article 3: Managing Roads: Efficiency and Effectiveness

Mark Thriscutt's Article 4: Managing Roads: Making things Better

David Ssali Luyimbazi, Determination of Road Maintenance Needs

Other Downloads

The Uganda National Roads Authority Act 2006

Assessment of Road Funds in Africa

Budget Speech 2007/2008

Financing Road Maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Top

Useful Links

These links to related resources and web pages provide a broader opening to the what is happening elsewhere in Africa and the rest of the world.

African Road Maintenance Funds Association (ARMFA)

Road Fund- Cameroon

Road Fund- Kenya

Road Fund- Malawi

Road Fund- Namibia

Road Fund- Tanzania

Road Fund- Zambia

Other ARMFA Members with website

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED), Republic of Uganda

Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT), Republic of Uganda

Road Sector Development Programme RSDP, MFPED, Republic of Uganda

Road Agency Formation Unit (RAFU)

International Forum for Rural transport and Development

Global Transport Knowledge Partnership

The Budget Speech

[News Date: 14th June 2007]

In the Budget Speech 2007/8, read on Thursday 14th June 2007, the Hon. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hon. Ezra Suruma abolished Annual Road License Fees under the Traffic Act. Road License Fees were undermined by high rates of default, rampant forgery of license stickers, and required a lot of administrative resources to ensure compliance.

Registration fees on New Vehicle Registration

Item	Vehicle Type	Fees (Shs)
(a)	Sedan cars, saloon cars estate cars but excluding duel purpose goods passenger vehicles	500,000
(b)	Passenger vehicles, including light omnibuses having seating accommodation not exceeding 28 passengers	700,000
(c)	Medium omnibuses and heavy omnibuses having seating accommodation for more than 28 passengers	850,000
(d)	Ambulances prisons vans and hearses	250,000
(e)	Goods vehicles (including duel purpose vehicles/passenger vehicles), light goods vehicles
(i)	Agricultural tractors	250,000
(ii)	Goods vehicles with less than two ton loading capacity	650,000
(iii)	Goods vehicles with more than two ton loading capacity and less than seven ton L/C	750,000
(iv)	Goods vehicles with more than ten ton loading capacity	1,000,000
(v)	Prime movers/tractor head	1,000,000
(vi)	Agricultural trailer	300,000
(vii)	Trailers/semi trailer with gross weight less than 7 tones	650,000
(viii)	Trailers/semi trailers with gross weight more than 7 tones	750,000