Deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa summons Kampala Minister over potholes in city roads

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has directed the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs to present a statement on the funding for construction and maintenance for the past three years and the status of roads in the city.

Tayebwa who chaired the House on Tuesday afternoon gave accounts of several Ugandans on social media — complaining about the potholes and citing reports that women are producing prematurely because of potholes.

“Social media, especially, Twitter is a wash with an exhibition of potholes in Kampala. We have potholes of every design, and size, deep, shallow, wide, narrow, filled with water, and dry ones, they are all in Kampala,” he told MPs.

He said he had received reports from MPs that potholes are affecting the lives of Ugandans.

“Imagine you are from URA from sorting your tax issues and then passing in potholes and breaking your shock absorbers, and then ask yourself why? I ask myself how ambulances navigate these roads, especially with pregnant women,” he said adding that:

“Hon. Linos came and talked to me that some men are no longer functioning well because their backs are broken because of potholes. Mama Cecilia told me women are producing prematurely because of potholes.”

The deputy speaker directed the Minister for Kampala to present a statement to that effect for Parliament to see whether “the problem is from us, or we don’t appropriate enough money.”

On the weekend, a cross section of Ugandans took to Twitter to express their anger at the poor state of roads in Kampala.

Under the hashtag #KampalaPotholeExhibition, different social media users shared photos of roads with potholes across the city, with many of them castigating the government for turning a blind eye on the deteriorating road conditions in the different parts of the city.

By Namagembe Joweria