Minister Katumba Wamala Defends Government on DRC Roads Construction Move

Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday, the Minister for Works and Transport, Gen.Edward Katumba Wamala said there was misinterpretation in the rationale behind the move to construct 223 kilometres of road network inside the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Wamala said as a country, we don’t operate or exist in isolation. He said we have national obligations, bilateral obligations, regional obligations and international obligations. The improvement of this infrastructure is both bilateral and regional obligations according to Wamala.
The Works Minister said this will see Uganda get a bigger market as the volume of exports to DRC goes up.

The joint infrastructural development project underscores the stable relations between Uganda and DR Congo which have been enjoyed over the last decades, albeit complicated by security tensions in the eastern Congo. The Works Minister explained that this will see Uganda get a bigger market as the volume of exports to DRC goes up.

The approved roads in DRC for the construction and upgrading include; the national road from Kasindi section at the border to Beni(80km) and the integration of the Beni-Butembo axis(54km) to the national road and the Bunagana(border) to Ruchuru- Goma road (89km).
The Works Minister said they are soon asking for a supplementary budget from the Ministry of Finance to get the job done.