A member of the House of Lords in England has stated that Uganda now has better country roads than the United Kingdom.
The Secretary to the Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi, revealed that a member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom informed him of Uganda’s good country road network while on an official visit.
Goobi made the remarks during a budget training of members of the Journalists of Uganda Parliamentary Press Association at the Hotel Africana in Kampala on Friday, June 28, 2024, where he asked journalists to paint the true picture of the state of Ugandan roads rather than join noisemakers complaining about potholes in Kampala.
“The other day, there was a Lord in the United Kingdom who was in my office, who sits in the House of Lords, and he told me, I have been in your country; I have been to Karamoja; I have been to Kisoro; I have been in Kasese. And he told me that you now have better country roads than the United Kingdom,” Goobi stated.
“A country road means a road moving from the city to the district,” he added.
Ggoobi consequently noted that the roads in Kampala too are yet to be covered but urged the journalists to promote the progress.
“We are going to construct a few new roads, but now the emphasis is on the maintenance of the tarmac we have accumulated over the years. By the way, you journalists know Uganda better because you are always on the road. What do you see? Why don’t you tell Ugandans? Of course, there is still a big chunk that we must work on, but just compare where you were 10 years ago as far as tarmac is concerned. But now you join the popular noise in Kampala about these Kampala potholes. Of course, we need to interrogate that too,” added Ggoobi.
During the same event, Ggoobi also urged the media to use the same energy dedicated to scrutinising public debt to also look into personal debt.
“I see there is so much interest in the debate on public debt because debt isn’t a very good thing. But also, there is something interesting in Uganda: the individuals who fear the public debt are personally indebted to the marrow. I want you, as media, as you interrogate public debt to help us with corporate and personal debt. Let Ugandans be concerned about personal debt as much as they are concerned about public debt. Because at least public debt has so many people interrogating it,” said Ggoobi.
The Secretary to the Treasury continued to call upon the media fraternity to support the Ugandan government in monitoring the expenditures in local governments, ministries, departments, agencies, parliament, judiciary, and missions abroad.
Ggoobi, however, urged the media to report accurately to help the government respond appropriately if waste or corruption is detected.
