uganda national roads authority end of financial year 2015-16

7/25/2019 Uganda National Roads Authority End of Financial Year 2015-16

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Uganda National Roads AuthorityEnd of Financial year

2015/16

MEDIA BRIEFING. #ACCOUNTABILITY #UNRAWORKS

Thursday, 30th June 2016; UNRA Headquarters

BACKGROUND


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The Uganda National Roads Authority, an organization established by

an Act of Parliament, started its operations in July 200! This means

that it "ill be celebrating its th birthday on #stJuly! The organization

"as established to implement $o%ernment&s policy of

commercialization and pri%atization of core functions that can be

transferred from central go%ernment to specialized ser%ice pro%iders!

'y doing so, it "ould introduce mar(et discipline, efficiency and

effecti%eness to functions that had hitherto suffered from the lac( of a

proper incenti%e structure and a lo" le%el of accountability andproducti%ity!

)uring this time, the Authority "as able to de%elop, maintain and

manage the national road net"or( "hich currently stands at

20,*++(m, as the Act reuires! -o"e%er, the more recent reports by

the .ffice of the Auditor $eneral /.A$, 1$$ and more recently the

ommission of 3nuiry had re%ealed systemic failures, inadeuate

go%ernance and lac( of staff capacity "ithin the organisation! As a

result, public and sta(eholder perception of the organisation&s

business appears to ha%e been at the lo"est in 20#+!

1n 4ay 20#*, 1 "as appointed the 35ecuti%e )irector of UNRA by the

-on! 4inister of 6or(s and Transport and 1 "as tas(ed "ith impro%ing


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its performance by turning it into an efficient organisation that pro%ides

a ser%ice that is responsi%e to the needs of the public! 1nformed by the

prior re%ie"s and a diagnosis of the organisation&s business

operations, 1 immediately embar(ed on designing and implementing

fundamental changes of ho" business is to be conducted in order to

help cope "ith the e5pectations of the public and the business

en%ironment! 6ith the support of the $o%erning 'oard of )irectors

/'o) of UNRA, 1 ha%e been able to implement changes "hich are

part of the long term transformation plan!

The long term transformation plan "hich comprises (ey priority

policies and programmes "ill see( to radically impro%e the

performance of the organisation by changing beha%iour, impro%ing

capacity and realigning the long term strategies for deli%ering a

ser%ice "hich is more effecti%e!

4ost notably, this transformation necessitated the immediate

restructuring of the organisation to ensure that sufficient and

appropriate resources, especially human are pro%ided for and that the

necessary safeguards and go%ernance structures are put in place!

1 therefore "ish to pro%ide the (ey highlights of the performance of the

organisation in the year 20#*7#8, and pro%ide an insight for the year

20#87#9!


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THE RESTRUCTURING OF UNRA

1n :eptember 20#*, the UNRA 'o) appro%ed a ne" structure "hich

"ould help to increase and realign the resources and business

operations to the e5pected outputs ; both in uality and uantity as

"ell as introduce sustainable good go%ernance! The ne" structure

almost doubled the reuired staff number to #,9+0! The macro

structure comprises the 'o), 35ecuti%e )irector and < )irectorates!

:ince the then structure had been dissol%ed, all e5isting staff "ere

therefore gi%en notice of termination on =0th:eptember 20#*, reason

being the organisational restructuring, and all their se%erance and

terminal benefits paid, in accordance "ith the -uman Resource

4anual and the la"s! A recruitment e5ercise to fill all positions started

"ith assessing all e5isting staff and retaining those "ho "ere

competent, hard"or(ing and "ith unuestionable integrity! This

rigorous internal recruitment, together "ith a headhunting e5ercise for

those "ith e5ceptional s(ills in the mar(et "as successful in retaining

the good staff and bringing on board those "ith (no"n pro%en

performance!


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>ollo"ing e5ternal ad%ertisement of ### positions in January 20#8, "e

recei%ed +*,000 applications "hich "ere sorted according to the ?ob

positions!

As a result of both the internal and e5ternal recruitment, all :enior

4anagement positions ha%e been filled "ith substantial recruitment of

the 4iddle 4anagement staff! 6e no" ha%e a total of 20#87#9 and to fill the remaining positions in 20#!

EXECUTIVE DUTIES

This year, my office has prioritised mainly supporting the ne"

4anagement in ensuring that the transition period is carried out

successfully and that the ne" leaders in the organisation /)irectors,

-eads B 4anagers are prepared "ell to ta(e up their ne" roles

through a "ellCstructured induction and leadership training

programme!


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6e ha%e no" commenced the process of en%isioning and dra"ing

strategies "hich "ill help us deli%er the organisation&s mandate! 6e

ha%e increased our engagements and consultations "ith the

sta(eholders, particularly $o%ernment and the )e%elopment Partners

to share our plans and to reCinstil confidence and reassurance that the

changes being made are long term and are intended to ma(e UNRA a

more efficient organisation! 1n addition to promoting transparency, "e

are ma(ing a deliberate effort to ha%e more effecti%e communication

"ith the public through different media channels and interactions li(e

this one!

6e ha%e put in place systems and processes "hich "ill help us

deli%er the ser%ices more efficiently but "ith integrity at the forefront of

our method of "or(ing! An 1n%estigation and ompliance )epartment

"as established to promote ethics and integrity and has been %ery

useful in guiding staff and our sta(eholders in ho" to conduct

themsel%es "hile transacting UNRA business!

PERFORMANCE OF UNRA IN THE YEAR 2015/16

The performance in terms of outputs has been medium and is not the

desirable standard measure! This is because of the restructuring

e5ercise "hich has ta(en almost all year and resulted in losing a

significant number of staff and recruiting ne" ones! This means that

for half of the year "e ha%e been ser%ing "ith only about #7= of the


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reuired staff numbers! 6e hope that performance "ill increase in the

ne5t year as more staff are brought on board and better systems are

established!

Finania! P"#$%#&an"

UNRA recei%es funding, for its recurrent e5penditure and de%elopment

from $o%ernment of Uganda /$oU "ith the support of the

)e%elopment Partners! This is used mainly for the design,

rehabilitation and impro%ement of the pa%ed roads and upgrading orconstruction of ne" roads!

1n addition, UNRA recei%es funding from the Uganda Road >und

mainly for the maintenance of the road net"or(! All funds are released

on a uarterly basis!


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This ending > 20#*7#8, "e recei%ed 8*@ of the de%elopment and

outstanding in%oices using ne5t year&s budget, hence reducing the

funds a%ailable for the 20#87#9 programme by the same amount!

N"'(%#) P!annin* + En*in""#in*

This )irectorate "hich "as restructured to underta(e studies and

design of roads and bridges has been able to underta(e se%eral

designs of roads using the consultants but in addition, an inC

houseteam has underta(en studies7designs for the follo"ing roadsF

#! 4asodde ; N(oo(o ; Nal"eyo Road "ith a spur from N(oo(o to

Nal"eyo /


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R%a, D"-"!%.&"n'

6e ha%e upgraded appro5imately 2=(m of road from unpa%ed to

pa%ed bituminous standard, bringing the total pa%ed road net"or( to

+,#*9(m /20@ out of the 20,*++(m, "hile the rehabilitation of 2*2(m

of the pa%ed roads has been completed!

UNRA is no" underta(ing inChouse onstruction and :uper%ision ofroad pro?ects! This year, the department has super%ised the follo"ing

road construction pro?ectsF

#! 4oroto To"n Roads

2! Gobo(o, 4aracha to"n roads

4oroto ;Na(apiripirit road

#! Ga"empeCGafu o%erlay

The onstruction unit is in the offing a"aiting acuisition of

euipment!

The critical challenges in the de%elopment of roads and bridges ha%e

beenF


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)elayed Payments to ontractors and :uppliers attracting

interest

)elayed Iand Acuisition and 35propriation of Iand attractingclaims

1nadeuacies in designs necessitating design re%ie"s and

updates!

:taffing hallenges in Iand Acuisition!

)elayed procurements affecting pro?ect implementation

1nadeuate funding for some pro?ects

Poor performance of ontractors and onsultants "hich resulted

in %ery poor compliance "ith the en%ironmental and social safeguards!

1n )ecember 20#*, due to the pro?ect implementation challenges on

the upgrading of Gam"engeC>ort Portal Road, the 6orld 'an(

cancelled the credit "hich "as financing the road pro?ect through the

Transport :ector )e%elopment Pro?ect and suspended financing for

the Albertine Region :ustainable )e%elopment Pro?ect /Gyen?o?oC

Gab"oya and N3RA4P /.PR on TororoC4baleC:orotiCGamdini!

This "as a setCbac( that affected progress on the 'an( financed

pro?ects due to cashCflo" challenges as $oU had to step in to finance

the remaining "or(s for the Gam"engeC>ort Portal Road! 6e ha%e

made significant progress in impro%ing contract and social safeguards


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management and hope that the 6orld 'an( "ill be able to lift the

suspension for the t"o pro?ects financing Gyen?o?oCGab"oya and the

.PR on TororoCGamdini roads in July 20#8! 1t should be noted that

UNRA is putting more emphasis and is committed to establishing

lasting systems for sustainable impro%ement in place and not oneCoff

solutions to a problem!

R%a, N"'(%#) O."#a'i%n an, Main'"nan"

6e "ere able to underta(e significant maintenance acti%ities on the

pa%ed and unpa%ed road net"or(! -o"e%er the net"or( suffered t"o

hea%y rain seasons this > "hich ra%aged some structures and

"ashed a"ay pa%ements resulting in a number of cutCoffs "hich

reuired emergency inter%ention to restore the net"or( to full

functionality!

Iimited financing for the maintenance of roads and bridges still

remains a challenge! UNRA recei%es an annual budget from Uganda

Road >und amounting to 2+8!< 'illion to fund road maintenance and

road net"or( operations acti%ities! -o"e%er this budget is inadeuate

to fund all the necessary acti%ities to (eep the net"or( in good

condition and fully functional! The budget reuirement for

maintenance including impro%ement of the #0,000(m of additional

net"or( to #st class gra%el is 800 'illion! 6ith sufficient funding, "e


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"ould be able to upgrade at least =,+00(m unCengineered roads to #st

class gra%el roads per year!

The operations acti%ities include Dehicle load control, >erry :er%ices,

Traffic and Road safety and 3nforcement "hich are intended to (eep

the net"or( fully functional at all times! The enforcement department

is helping to protect the road infrastructure "hich has al"ays been

%andalised and the road reser%es encroached on! This year has notbeen %ery busy but "e shall see increased acti%ities in the ne5t >

"hen recruitment of more officers has been substantially completed!

6e ha%e increased the number of ferry crossings from si5 /200 to

nine /20#* and replaced the aged ferries at three sites "ith a ne"

ferry "ith a higher capacity at 6anse(oCPanyimur crossing on Albert

Nile!

PANS FOR 2016/1

The de%elopment /mainly construction of ne" roads budget is

allocated appro5imately


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the $o%ernment road de%elopment programme has been gro"ing,

4edium Term 35penditure >rame"or( /4T3> ceiling for UNRA %ote

has been the same! This has resulted in the ongoing and planned

programme ha%ing a deficit of U$E #!9 trillion! )ue to the budget

constraints, there are therefore no ne" (ey pro?ects to be financed by

$.U commencing in the coming >inancial ear! All effort "ill be

concentrated on ensuring that $o%ernment gets Dalue for 4oney from

the in%estment in the ongoing pro?ects through impro%ed management

and super%ision of pro?ects "hile engagement "ith the )e%elopment

Partners to support the programme continues! 6or(s "ill continuethrough the year on at least the #,000(m of ongoing pro?ects "ith the

allocated funds! 6ith the a%ailed funding, it is hoped that 200(m of

pa%ed roads "ill be added to the net"or( and #*(m of roads

rehabilitated! Tendering "ill continue and shall be completed upto

contract a"ard for the planned #,000(m of roads for rehabilitation and

upgrading! ontracts "ill be signed for pro?ects for "hich funding is

a%ailable! 1n addition, the ongoing "or(s on the bridges "ill continue

as sho"n in the Anne5! >ocus "ill also be on impro%ing the systems

and processes for better efficiency in operations and in the

de%elopment and management of the net"or(!

CHAENGES

The current funding for the road maintenance and de%elopment

programme is insufficient! 6ith a #,+99(m of maintenance bac(log for


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the pa%ed roads, $o%ernment "ould ha%e to progressi%ely double the

financing of the maintenance budget to reinstate the roads to

maintainable state! 1n addition, the #0,000(m of unpa%ed roads "ould

ha%e to be upgraded to at least #stclass gra%el roads and to remo%e

the bottlenec(s "hich create the emergency situations annually!

UNRA is currently designing and implementing a $o%ernment road

de%elopment programme "hich is short by at least U$E #!9 trillion!

The successful implementation of the entire programme "ill depend

on the financing a%ailed in the coming and the subseuent years!

CONCUSIONS

As UNRA celebrates years of e5istence and the achie%ements

attained so far, "e use this time to reflect on the past, to help us

shape our future better! There is no doubt that the past # year has

been a difficult one to us, to the road users and to the sector at large

considering the e%ents that ha%e occurred, i!e! the restructuring of the

organisation "hich resulted in some functions being suspended, the

3lCnino rains "hich ra%aged the road net"or(, the suspension and

cancellation of 6orld 'an( financing among others yet the public

e5pectations remain high!


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)espite all the challenges the pa%ed road net"or( has increased by

2=(m and the net"or( has been maintained in generally good

condition throughout the year!

4anagement is committed to building inChouse capacity and seeing

that all our initiati%es succeed in introducing efficiency and

effecti%eness of our business ne5t > on"ards!

1 remain confident that the effort, progress and changes made thus far

are an important step to"ards a lasting solution to the pre%ailingproblems that ha%e pre%ented the organisation from pro%iding a road

net"or( that our road users and the public demand for! .ur long term

desire is to pro%ide a great road net"or( that "ill pro%ide great dri%er

e5perience and one that "ill ta(e Uganda to higher economic

de%elopment le%els!

1 than( you

Allen C. Kagina

!e"uti#e $ire"t%r, Uganda Nati%nal R%ads Auth%rity

uganda national roads authority end of financial year 2015-16

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