uganda national roads authority end of financial year 2015-16
TRANSCRIPT
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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