The President emphasised the need to ensure that economic growth translates into improved household incomes, citing government programmes such as Operation Wealth Creation and the Parish Development Model (PDM).
“Can you have a strong army and a strong and safe country without a strong economy? Can you have a strong defence force and a strong and safe country without cohesive politics? Finally, can you have a strong defence force and a strong and safe country without, in some cases, addressing the issue of geo-strategic location such as being landlocked?” President Museveni asked.
The directive follows a recent inspection in which none of the 30 commuter taxis assessed met basic safety and mechanical standards. Some of the vehicles reportedly had torn seats tied together with strings, while parts of their bodies were secured using ropes, raising concerns about their ability to transport passengers safely.
The committee, chaired by the Mbarara City South Member of Parliament (MP), Mwine Mpaka, is meeting with officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport to assess progress on ongoing road projects, examine implementation challenges, and review the ministry's overall performance in the roads sector.
Enforcing speed governors in Uganda has faced significant hurdles since the mandate was initially introduced in 2004. The hurdles include drivers tampering with these machines, deliberately disconnecting devices to bypass speed limits, fake devices, and corruption with dealers smuggling in fake gadgets and corrupt networks issuing certificates of fitness without actual installations, and low compliance with heavy trucks and minibuses identified by the transport licensing board as the biggest defaulters.
Speaking about the condition of the Mityana–Mubende Road, the minister said the government could have spent less money on the project if engineers had raised concerns about the road’s deteriorating state earlier.
"The boda-boda issue is being handled carefully, and registration of all boda boda cyclists is ongoing. We are going to register a certain number of cyclists per stage, and those without stages will have to vacate Kampala. This will reduce the overcongestion and the high crime rate being committed by these unknown cyclists.”