By Wabomba Ronnie
BUDUDA
Bududa district residents and stakeholders are in advanced stages of organizing a massive peaceful protest and drafting a petition to be submitted to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni over the poor state of the Bubulo–Bududa Circular Road.
Bududa is a food basket that supplies produce to the rest of the country and neighboring states such as Kenya and Sudan. However, the only road serving the area is in a miserable state, affecting almost all activities and sectors. The bridge on the same road, which connects Manafwa District to Bududa Town and Bududa Hospital, collapsed almost a year ago but has never been repaired.
President Museveni previously promised that the road would be tarmacked and even mentioned it in his last State of the Nation Address. However, it did not appear in the 2025–2026 budget, which has angered residents and sparked plans for the protest. There are also threats to withhold votes from all NRM leaders in the 2026 elections as a statement of dissatisfaction.
The petition launch is scheduled for 21st August 2025 at Bukigai Grounds, featuring activities including a press briefing and a peaceful protest. In their petition, coordination which is representing residents asks President Museveni to direct the Ministry of Works and Transport to immediately commence full tarmacking of the road, provide a supplementary budget for this urgent need, and personally commission the project.
The coordination committee, led by Mutawo Godfrey, Joseph Massa, and Jane Wakikona, says they have notified all relevant authorities, including the Police, the LCV Chairperson, and other stakeholders, and expect the demonstration to be very peaceful.
A letter from the Minister of Works and Transport, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, to the Chairperson of Bududa District, dated 7th August, states that the 28-kilometre Bubulo–Bududa Circular Road was not included in the FY 2025/2026 budget because a commercial contract for the project was signed on 9th May 2024 between the former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and the identified contractor.
However, negotiations on the financial terms of the contract are still underway, and implementation of the project will commence once these financial discussions are concluded
