The joint teams of government of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo led by the Ministers of Infrastructure and Public Works, Gen. Katumba Wamala and Alexis Gisaro respectively have handed over the [Project-road] sites to the contractor DOTT SERVICES LTD.
The sites to be handed over include Bunagana to Rutshuru to Goma in Goma and the Kasindi-Beni-Butembo in Beni.
They will handover the site camps, borrow areas of material sources in order to commence the physical mobilization to the work sites to start working. Both the technical teams on 1st December, visited the equipment intended for works in DRC which are parked in bond in Kampala with the project steering committee.
The equipment will be dispatched on 4th December 2021 in addition to those already in Congo.
The Ugandan government, through UNRA, in September 2020 initiated a project to build over 200 kilometres of road inside the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of plans to boost trade between the countries.
On 16th June 2021, the 223km road project linking the two countries was launched at Mpondwe (Uganda) and Kasindi (DRC) by Presidents Museveni and Felix Tshisekedi, with a vision of improving mobility, security and boost Uganda’s trade and investment in the region, given DRC is Uganda’s second biggest regional trade partner after Kenya.
According to President Tshisekedi, the project acts as a reinforcement of relations between Uganda and DRC.
“I thank him [Museveni] for this initiative because it caters for the idea of the integration of our countries. As brothers, instead of looking to build walls, it is better to build bridges,” he said.
“I am happy to be here for this project. Tshisekedi came with an open position because he does not want any suspicion with his neighbours. We are here to break ground for this project and ready for more projects,” said President Museveni.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transport, Mr. Bageya Waiswa said the project was initiated with the major aim of boosting trade and commerce, addressing the issue of security, easing movement and welfare of the people and strengthening relations between Kampala and Kinshasa.
The roads to be built include Mpondwe/Kasindi to Beni (80km), Beni-Butembo axis (54km), and the third will start from Bunagana border town, through Rutshuru to Goma, the capital of the North Kivu Province in Eastern DRC which amounts to 89km all in all bringing the total to 223km.
The estimated cost of constructing the roads is $330m. East government is contribute 20% of the budget while the remaining 60% will be raised by the contractor, DOTT Services, an indigenous Ugandan based infrastructure developer. The Ugandan government already approved Shs.220billion for the project and Shs.100 billion has already been received according to Mr. Waiswa.
“The roads are really bad, but the contractors are going to upgrade the roads to first class gravel, and will later apply asphalt to make them all-weather roads,” Mr. Waiswa said.
On 13th May, 2021, Uganda’s UNRA hosted a delegation from DRC led by Herman Mutima Sakrini, the Chief Executive Officer of The National Roads Agency in DRC on a bench marking exercise.
Both governments are committed to seeing the bilateral economic interconnectivity between Uganda and DRC through by constructing a superior regional road network with security as an added benefit that trade requires in order for it to thrive.
