To Minister Balaam Barugahara & Maama Omuuto Ms. Justine Nameere
I come in the morning dove with a green leaf to you, my long-time brother. To you, Barugahara Balaam, Ministry of Local Government. To you, Maama Omuuto Ms. Nameere. What you are doing to fight and expose corruption is spot on and should be applauded. Not clapped for. Applauded. Because this war has no referee.
I have been in the trenches of Civil Engineering for over 35 years. I’ve executed work under the Ministry of Works in Entebbe. Sweated under the Roads Construction Company of Namibia. Run private practice. I have eaten the dust of most districts in Uganda. So, when I speak, I speak from the scars.
Let's not fall in the trap of Ebola misinformation, which has chased away tourists and made us miss World Cup finals. Donors will run to Kigali or Namibia.
Let me take you through Mbale and the Karamoja region. This is not theory. This is blood and diesel.
BUDUDA & THE MOUNTAINS: WHERE ROADS DIE YOUNG
Bududa and all mountainous areas sit on volcanic soils. Beautiful to farm. Deadly to build on. These soils are prone to landslides. They swell when wet. They crack when dry. They move.
So, if you ask a contractor to put a gravel road in that area, understand this: you cannot get murram on that mountain. You have to haul it from downstream. Places like Magodesi, Nakaloke, or Busajjabwankuba. That’s 40km, 60km one way.
300 million shillings to construct a gravel road there is pocket change. It’s an insult to physics. It depends on thickness. Anything below a 200mm subbase or base is just a temporary solution. It’s makeup on a fracture. First rain, and the road is gone.
But local contractors need contracts. They will take the job. They will sign. Deep down, they know it’s just food for survival. It’s like chasing an armed thief with enkoni. You’re brave, but you’re dead. They take the money, do what they can, and pray the rain delays. When it fails, you call them thieves. No. You sent them to war with a stick.
I built the Bubulo–Lwakhakha Road in 1999. Getting murram was a nightmare. We climbed, we searched, we hauled. To do it right, you need this plant per day:
- 1x CAT 140H Grader
- 1x 20,000-litre Water Bowser
- 1x 15-ton Vibratory Compactor
- 4x 30-ton Tippers
The cost to run that fleet for one day is not less than 12 million shillings. Fuel. Operators. Maintenance. Mobilization. That’s before you buy one trip of murram. Do the math and spare the contractor. If your BoQ gives 300M for 5km, you are not budgeting. You are burying people.
KARAMOJA: THE LAND THAT EATS ROADS
Karamoja region is a problem when it comes to getting murram. I worked on the Nadunget–Akisim Road in 2000. Proper murram? We hauled it from nearly Katakwi or the land of the Tepesi around Mt Moroto. Because the Moroto area is sand and rock. And it has seasonal rivers that lie like they’re dead.
Most contractors don’t know this until rain washes out your road and headwalls. They design like it’s Kampala. One storm and your 800M project is now fish habitat. You can’t fight nature with ignorance. You design for Karamoja, or Karamoja redesigns you.
Technical: WHAT A REAL GRAVEL ROAD NEEDS
Item | Bare Minimum for Survival | What They Fund | What Happens |
|---|---|---|---|
Subbase Thickness | 200mm compacted murram | 100mm or "just grade" | Ruts in 3 months. Base failure. |
Murram Quality | CBR ≥ 30, PI ≤ 15, haul from source | "Any red soil" from roadside | Turns to mud. Dust in dry season. |
Drainage | Side drains + mitre drains every 100m, lined culverts | One culvert at LC1's garden | Road becomes the river. |
Compaction | 95% MDD, 15-ton roller, watered | One pass with pickup | It settles. Then it breaks. |
Equipment Day Rate | 12M UGX minimum for full set | 3M UGX "if lucky" | Work stalls. Contractor borrows. Quality dies. |
HERE IS THE CONDEMNATION:
You cannot audit corruption without auditing the BoQ. You cannot jail a contractor for failing to do 500M worth of work with 300M. That’s not theft. That’s state-sponsored failure.
The devil is in the specifications. Engineers at districts are writing BoQs to please budgets, not to survive the soil. UNBS, ERB, UIPE—engage the Minister before we all die. A ministry that approves 100mm of murram in Bududa is handing the contractor a shovel and telling him to dig his own grave.
My appeal to you, Bro Balaam and Maama Nameere:
Your work is commendable. But now listen to the local contractors. Call them to the table. Look through the specifications for the works. Not after the road has failed. (Before.)
A general who wins war without a bullet is the best Commander. But a general who sends soldiers to war without bullets is just a butcher.
Don’t make contractors choose between prison and poverty. Give them real numbers. Demand real work. Then, if they steal, hang them. But first, give them a fighting chance.
As the Oracles of Kifuuta say: "Tosindika musajja kulwana na mpologoma ng’omuwadde akati."
Don’t send a man to fight a lion and give him a stick.
We want roads. Not graves.
We want accountability. Not executions.
Next week, I am going to unpack for you the buildings at local governments.
I’ve laid my 35 years on the table. Use them.
For God and My Country.
