The much anticipated route is the National carrier’s first intercontinental route. The launch of the route coincided with the 2020 Dubai Expo which kicked off this week, Uganda is exhibiting at the expo.

Officials are confident that the route is lucrative with Ugandan businessmen and labour export companies promising to fly Uganda Airlines.

While flagging off the Airbus A330-800neo, the State Minister for Transport Fred Byamukama appealed to all Ugandans to fly their own citing its lucrative features and affordable rates. He also praised the plane’s cargo capacity for agricultural products export.

The Minister also mentioned that the airline is set to acquire cargo planes to add onto its fleet of planes.

The airline will operate the long haul/ five hour flight to Dubai three days a week.

 The Districts of Kasese and Bunyangabu have received a new suspended cable foot bridge. The newly completed Mihani cable bridge was handed over to the District authorities on 30th September 2021. The 67.0 span bridge seats over River Rwimi, providing connectivity to the rural communities of Bwesumbu and Kabonero Sub Counties.

The robust cable bridge replaced a dilapidated wooden bridge that was washed away by floods leaving residents to cross over the river on foot. This was risky and is said to have claimed more than 25 lives through drowning.

This was the 11th such bridge constructed under a collaborative partnership between Ministry of Works and Transport and an American NGO, Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) initiated in August 2017. The MoU started a 5- year program to construct Cable foot bridges.

John Kyaligonza, the Kabonero sub-county chairperson expressed relief at the handover of the bridge saying that the residents will now feel safer while crossing the river throughout the year including during heavy rains.

“Every year, we have been losing at least three people who have been drowning in the river during flooding. But we are now very happy to see our areas connected because we will now be accessing markets freely,” he said.

The project Manager, Eng. Zirimenya Andrew explained that the program has a capacity building component through a “Training of Trainers” initiative with MELTC. This imparts skills at different levels to enable deployment of the technology to other isolated communities with connectivity challenges.

The bridges are capable of spanning between 20 and 120 meters and are able to pass pedestrians, animals, as well as motorcycles.

This partnership is tailored to addressing a specific development challenge of poor and inefficient connectivity among isolated rural communities cut off by rivers, streams, gullies, valleys, revives and other topographical features, that make linkage , rural access or connectivity difficult .  In many rural areas of Uganda, characterized by Hilly terrains, citizens do not have safe year-round access to roads that can connect them to essential services such as hospitals, schools and markets. This challenge increases travel times and cost of mobility to access essential health care, education and other socio- economic services/opportunities. Particularly in hilly areas, bridges are an essential component of an effective transportation system.

Under this 1st MoU, whose targets are being accomplished today, the last bridge (11th overall bridge) to be implemented is Mihani - Kirachadi suspension Foot Bridge (67.0 m span). All the other initial 8 (Eight) bridges were implemented in Eastern Uganda (Greater Mt. Elgon Area Districts of Sironko, Kapchorwa, Kween, Bulambuli, Mbale, Bududa, Manafwa) and were successfully completed and handed over to the beneficiary District Local Governments for continuous maintenance to ensure sustainability.

The Minister of State for Transport, Hon. Fred Byamukama, accompanied the Prime Minister of Uganda, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja to commission Mpanga-6 Bridge in Kabambiro sub-county, Kamwenge District.

This critical infrastructure was handed over to the Kabambiro sub-county community on Saturday 18^th September 2021. Construction of the Mpanga-^ bridge was fully funded by the government of Uganda.

The bridge’s construction commenced in February 2019 and was completed in December 2020 with a lifespan of 120 years. The bridge is 30metres long seated atop river Mpanga.

In her remarks, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabanja mentioned that Uganda relies on its road network for the movement of over 90% of its goods and passenger traffic. A sound road transport infrastructure is therefore critical to achieving the national aspiration of a strong, private sector-led growth that contributes to economic development and poverty reduction.

The government of Uganda has embarked on reconstruction of several bridges and roads across Uganda in an effort to ensure connectivity, mobility so that people can engage in trade and access services. One of the government’s strategies of reducing inequality is to build bridges across the nation

I want to thank His Excellency for committing funds to support infrastructure projects of this magnitude. We know for sure, that these bridges will significantly contribute to the economic development of Uganda and hence poverty reduction.

Mpanga-6 Bridge placed atop River Mpaga was part of a Lot of 4 bridges - Mpondwe Bridge on Kampala - Mubende - Fortportal - Uganda/Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border road. Nsongi Bridge on Kasisi-Rulete-Kabata-Rwenkerizi-Kyanga Road, Ruzairwe Bridge on Kibaale-Kyebando-Pacwa Road and Mpanga-6 Bridge on Kamwenge Kabambiro road.

The Hon. Minister of State for Works Musa Ecweru on Friday 10^th September inspected the ongoing works at the Gulu Logistics Hub. He noted that the construction and completion of the hub is timely as will coincide with the rehabilitation of the Tororo –Gulu meter gauge railway line.

The minister and his technical team were received by the District leadership including the District Chairperson, the resident City Commissioner, the City Mayor and the Mayor of the Town Council.

While at the hub he revealed that the contract for the construction of the access road to the hub had been awarded and works are awaiting compensation of the project affected persons.

The hub is designed as a dry port with both rail and truck terminals containing warehouses, container terminals and general lifting equipment. The facility will offer handling and storage services, space for stakeholders dealing with freight transport; freight forwarders, shippers and transport operators and accompanying services such as customs inspections, tax payment, maintenance and repair, banking and information communication technology.

The land chosen for the project is adjacent to the current Gulu Railway Station. Several studies have shown that the city (Gulu) is served by international trunk roads linking Mombasa, Kampala, and Juba and it is also crossed by the international one-meter gauge railway.  The town has the largest airfield after Entebbe hence it offers bulk storage for goods and serves as a waiting point for cargo trucks.

While inspecting the site, the Minister noted that the hub holds great prospects for the region..

“The Gulu Logistics hub upon completion it is expected to facilitate logistic movement in Uganda through the Northern Region by reducing transport costs, improving efficiency in the movement of goods and serving South Sudan as well as DR Congo,” he noted.

It is also projected that the facility will create many jobs in maintenance, assembly, machinery repair, dry docking, packaging, labeling, and administrative work.

The farming sector in Gulu which produces plenty of grains such as groundnuts, maize, simsim, and rice will also benefit from the hub. There will be a warehouse to receive and store the grains, workers in the value chain of the logistics hub and large players in the logistics industry to serve the sector. The project will be commissioned in June 2022 and its operation will be tendered to the private sector, who will run it as a concession.

H.E Excellency, Jabor Ali Aldusari, the Qatar Ambassador to Uganda, on Tuesday 14^th September paid a courtesy call to the Hon. Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Katumba Wamala. The Ambassador expressed great interest in bolstering the bilateral relationship between Uganda and Qatar.

“We are looking into investment opportunities that can benefit the economies of the two nations. Our areas of interest range from agriculture, mining and low cost housing,” he said.

The Ambassador showed great interest in the National Carrier and the possibilities of the Qatari National Airline working together.

Hon. Wamala was quick to interject on how Uganda Airlines could greatly benefit from capacity building through a cordial working relation with Qatar Airways.

“We can share expertise, the Uganda Airlines staff can get some training from Qatar Airways to enable them pick up the good etiquette and quality of service,” he said.

High on Agenda was the discussion to have Entebbe International Airport serve a hub for the concentration of passenger and flight operations.

The meeting was also attended by State minister for trade, Hon Harriet Ntabazi who expressed commitment to marketing Uganda in Qatar for trade exchange between the two countries. The State Minister for Transport Fred Byamukama, Works Permanent Secretary, Bageya Waiswa, and the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority Acting Director General, Fred Bamwesigye were also present.

During the meeting, Al-Dosari also delivered invitation to Gen Katumba to visit his counterpart in Qatar to identify areas of infrastructure investment in Uganda.

The Uganda Railways Corporation on Friday 03^rd September unveiled 4 new modern locomotives that will be added to support the available locomotives to rail cargo to and from Kampala-Malaba-Eldoret/Naivasha.

The four locomotives with 3000 horsepower diesel engines were purchased from a South African manufacturer, Grindrond Rail at a cost of 48billion Uganda shillings. They have a minimum haulage of 750 tons and a maximum of 1500tons, with a lifespan of 35 to 40 years.

State Minister for Works, Hon. Musa Ecweru presided over the unveiling and handover ceremony at the URC headquarters. He noted that the URC had suffered great setbacks but has been resilient. The Minister further pointed to the fact that Uganda government had resolved to revitalize the old meter gauge and as such the new locomotives will be a great boost to the Corporation’s cargo haulage.

“The government will support the vision of URC to reduce the burden on the road and damages caused by heavy trucks”, said Hon. Ecweru.

The locomotives are expected to reduce transit time from Malaba to Kampala from 48hrs to 12hrs, increase volume hauled at a go from 600 to 1500 metric tons and increase the anticipated volume per month to 40,000-60,000metric tons.

Rehabilitation works are ongoing on the Tororo-Gulu line as well as the Kampala-Malaba line as part of government efforts to revitalize the meter gauge.

The freight costs for both import and export of containerized cargo is not only much cheaper, but also safer and faster via rail in comparison to rad transportation.

Following a directive by the Rt.Hon.PM, the Hon. MOSW, Musa Ecweru accompanied by technical officers from the Ministry, UNRA and URF on Friday the 27^th of August 2021 went on a site visit to assess the ongoing works on the Ssezibwa Swamp crossing that will connect Nakasongola and Kayunga Districts once complete.

The team drove through Zirobwe- Kikyusa- Bamugolodde road which the Rt.hon.PM, Robinnah Nabanja had made a passionate request to have tarmacked.

Once at the site the Hon Minister boarded a canoe to connect to the site where the contractor had laid a slab for the construction of a box culvert. Hon. Ecweru and the Nakasongola MP-Hon. Mutebi Noah both expressed great dissatisfaction with the slow pace of works on the project.

Omega Construction was contracted in early 2019 with a contract period of 18 months which elapsed, the contractor had already extended the project twice for a period of 12 months but had still failed to complete the works.

The District Leadership complained to the Ministry about the contractor’s use poor and old equipment, queried why the Ministry issued a contract to the contractor yet they had been blacklisted by UNRA. They requested that the bridge gets expedited owing to the loss of lives, and the sensitivity of the project.

Along with the Nakasongola Member of Parliament, the Minister tasked the contractor-Omega Construction to have the works completed within the next two months. The Contractor promisesd to have the box culvert in place in the two months grace period issued.

It was observed that the road is of great economic importance since it would ease congestion and traffic on the Gulu highway from Kampala.

The Hon. Ecweru warned contractors against abusing government funds and not fulfilling contracts to the stipulated standards. He promised to traverse the whole country to inspect and ensure quality road works.

The District leadership also requested the Minister to look into tarmacking the Zirobwe -Nakasongola, Mayirikiti-Kalungi-Kazwana, Nakasongola-Kibuye, Rwampanga-Moone-Migeera roads.

Hon. Mutebi Noah threaten to hold a demonstration within the next two months if the works are not completed to a sustainable state.

The Minister of State for Transport, Hon. Fred Byamukama on Monday 23^rd August officiated at the handover ceremony of the Aircraft Operator Certificate issued to Uganda Airlines’ Airbus A330-800neo.

The National carrier recently acquired an additional two Aircraft, the Airbus A330-800neo. With this addition to the fleet, it was imperative that the airline acquires an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) for the Airbus. The AOC was granted eight months later by Uganda Civil aviation Authority (UCAA) after a rigorous process.

This certificate allows the airline to use the aircraft for commercial purposes. The certification process requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public.

The Airline is expected to launch its long haul flights this October starting with Dubai, followed closely by London and Guangzhou. Currently, Uganda Airlines flies to Nairobi, Bujumbura, Mogadishu, Juba, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Mombasa, and Kinshasa.

Present at the handover ceremony was the Permanent Secretary, Bageya Waiswa, the Director of Transport, Benon Kajuna, the Acting Director General UCAA, Fred Bamwesigye and the Acting CEO Uganda Airlines, Jennifer Bamuturaki.

The Airbus A330-800neo a state of the art aircraft has competitive features that make it enjoyable and comfortable. Some of these features include full lie flat chairs in Business class, onboard Wi-Fi access throughout the aircraft, inflight entertainment system and increased legroom for all classes.

H.E the President directed on 30^th July 2021 that public transport should re-open at strictly 50 percent capacity effective 2nd August 2021. He further directed that taxi and bus owners' associations should ensure adherence by their members to the directive and to SOPs laid out by the Ministry of Works and Transport as part of self-regulations.

The Ministry held a meeting on Thursday 5^th August 2021 with the taxi, bus, boda boda and bus park owners’ associations to discuss modalities for implementing the Standard Operating Procedures developed by the Ministry of Works and Transport.

Following presentations by the bus, taxi, and boda boda association numerous issues arose;

The operators requested to be included among the beneficiaries of the stimulus packages since their industry has been greatly affected by the pandemic. In response, the Minister for Kampala would liaise with Hon. Byanyima to engage the Ministry of Trade on the modalities for Operators to obtain support from Government.

It was noted with concern also that outside Kampala, SoPs were not observed. There was need therefore to work with the Ministry of Health to ensure compliance outside the CBD.

The Boda Boda Operators requested the government to ensure all operators are attached to stages to ease monitoring of compliance since boda operators without stages were impossible to monitor.

Regarding the newly refurbished Old Taxi Park, the operators were informed that it would only be opened for operation once all the remaining works were completed. The remaining works included the construction of new toilets, clinic around the area among others. 

Government will review the status of these SOPs by the operators of public transport every 14 days, breach of these SOPs will lead to cancellation of the Operator’s licenses or a total closure of the public transport.

Project Summary

Project General Description

The Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communication and Transport Project is designed within the 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011-2016) and will contribute to the EAC’s Vision for the Lake Victoria basin to build “a prosperous population living in a healthy and sustainably managed environment providing equitable opportunities and benefits”. The project addresses the maritime transportation and navigation safety intervention area and will contribute to the provision of safe, efficient transport links, and to the safe conduct of fishing activities that are essential to achieving the goals of poverty reduction and sustainable development. It addresses significant safety of life and transport planning issues on Lake Victoria to encourage increased transport and trade on the Lake. The project is an intervention by EAC to reduce maritime accidents, save lives, improve security and bring efficient and affordable communications to the Lake Victoria communities. Safe maritime operations will attract investments in lake transport, tourism and water sports. The implementation of the project is expected to take four years with an estimated total cost of UA 25.95 million (USD 36,583,822).

Project Objectives

The principal objective of this project is to contribute to broad-based poverty alleviation and improvement of livelihoods of people through increased investment in maritime transport and fishing on Lake Victoria. Specifically, the project will establish a maritime communications system for safety on Lake Victoria, including the implementation of a maritime safety coordination centre and search and rescue centres on the Lake, and produce a maritime transport strategy for the EAC.

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries of the project are the populations of its area of influence. The target area of the project is the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) shared by Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The Lake Victoria Basin has about 35 million people, and the Lake is the source of income and livelihood for nearly 4 million people. The socio-economic welfare of this communities around Lake Victoria will be improved through the extended telecommunication coverage, as business will be carried out more efficiently with the available value added services.