The World Bank has suspended all roads projects it is funding in Uganda. This is after the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) failed to meet the environmental and social standards set by the bank.
"We have suspended all bank-funded projects pending a review and strengthening of the capacity of UNRA to adhere to the required environmental and social standards. We are continuing to work with the Ugandan government to ensure all Bank-supported projects help Ugandans improve their lives, while protecting the poor and vulnerable," the bank said in a statement released on its website.
It is instructive to note that the Governments of Kenya and Uganda were seeking to get funding through their respective roads agencies--UNRA and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA),-- to finance the multi-national Uganda-Kenya road project. The proposed highway links Kapchorwa-Suam border post in Uganda to Suam border post Endebess-Kitale Road in Kenya, and extends to the Eldoret bypass road. The project was subject to an environmental study that was to be carried out by Kenyan and Ugandan environmental bodies.
It's not clear whether the bank's directive will affect joint Kenya and Uganda projects. The two neighbouring states have other road construction partnerships, including the Northern Corridor, which covers approximately 8,800km across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the DR Congo. The projects also include the Mombasa-Malaba-Kampala road, which is 1,170km.
This is not the first time the World Bank is suspending funding for Ugandan road projects. Last year on December 21, the bank had again announced the cancellation of funding to the Uganda Transport Sector Development Project (TSDP) due to contractual breaches related to workers' issues. Contractors had been accused of poor project performance and encouraging sexual misconduct and abuse among workers.
"The multiple failures we've seen in these road projects are unacceptable," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim at the time. "It is our obligation to properly supervise all investment projects to ensure that the poor and vulnerable are protected in our work. In this case, we did not see that, as poor workers are subjected to intimidation and rampant sexual abuse."
Whether the suspension of funding to Uganda will affect its projects with Kenya remains to be seen as the region seeks to undertake mega infrastructure projects.
