The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) management led by its Executive Director, Allen Kagina is in panic over failure to absorb Shs212bn in the previous budget.
This state of affairs has seen the roads agency rush to Parliament to request for the reallocation of the said funds before the financial year ends.
On May3, 2017, Kagina appeared before the Parliamentary Budget Committee and asked the lawmakers to reallocate the unabsorbed Sh212bn to projects with insufficient funding, noting that they couldn’t absorb the said funds yet the financial year is soon ending.
Noteworthy, UNRA can’t reallocate the said funds without approval from Parliament.
“We have the funds, but we can’t reallocate them to other projects without approval from Parliament and that’s why we are appearing before the committee today,” Kagina said.
She explained that the money couldn’t be absorbed due to land problems and conflicts.
“We are seeking to spend the money on other roads and contracts where we are already incurring debts with the firms that are constructing the roads; failure to pay the companies, we will incur a public debt,” Kagina added.
Some of the funds the authority failed to absorb include the Shs17.9bn meant for the construction of 66 selected bridges, Shs25bn for construction of BADEA bridges, Shs51bn for land compensation of Kampala-Jinja Express way, Shs15.3bn for land compensation of Kampala fly overs.
However, the Committee Chaired by Amos Lugoloobi turned down UNRA’s request, noting that they needed to get legal guidance from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the matter.
If Parliament doesn’t approve the said funds, the money will be transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
