The President pledged improvements to key road links in Greater Ankole but urged residents to pursue commercial farming and other income-generating activities rather than wait for better infrastructure.
President Museveni has pledged government intervention on major roads in the Greater Ankole region, while cautioning residents against using poor road infrastructure as an excuse for remaining in poverty.
Speaking at a thanksgiving ceremony for Internal Affairs Minister Ephraim Kamuntu in Sheema District on Saturday, October 24, Museveni said the government would work on roads in the area but urged households to focus on wealth creation through commercial production.
“We are going to work on these roads but don't give an excuse of having no tarmac roads for remaining poor. Chase poverty and tarmac will find you liberated from poverty,” Museveni said.
The President identified several road projects expected to improve connectivity across the region, including the Bwizibwera–Nyakambu–Nsiika–Nyakashaka–Nyakabirizi corridor, the Mbarara–Ishaka highway and a route linking Kabwohe, Bugongi, Kitagata and Kabira to Rukungiri.
The proposed Bwizibwera–Nyakambu–Nsiika–Nyakashaka–Nyakabirizi road, listed at about 92 kilometres, includes a spur to Kabwohe and is intended to improve links across parts of the Ankole sub-region.
The Mbarara–Ishaka road, measuring about 59 kilometres, is earmarked for rehabilitation. The National Planning Authority's Fourth National Development Plan lists the project under the 2025/26–2029/30 planning period, although its status was recorded as pre-feasibility in the plan.
This does not, by itself, confirm that construction has begun.
The third route would connect Kabwohe, Bugongi, Kitagata and Kabira towards Rukungiri through Kashenshero, Ruhinda and Mitooma.
The precise scope and length of this route should be confirmed with the Ministry of Works and Transport before publication.
Museveni did not announce specific commencement dates for the road works during the ceremony.
He argued that improved infrastructure alone would not guarantee household prosperity, pointing to communities along established roads where some residents continued to struggle economically.
“Chase poverty, tarmac will find you. In 1963, Kamuntu and I witnessed the Kabale-Kampala highway construction, but we still have people along these roads that are still poor. That is paganism,” Museveni said.
He urged residents to embrace commercial agriculture and government wealth-creation programmes, including the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga, to generate household incomes.
The President also encouraged farmers to adopt irrigation, improve pasture management and use fertilisers to increase agricultural productivity and protect their livelihoods against drought.
Museveni challenged residents to take practical steps towards improving their economic circumstances, saying poverty continued to claim lives.
“Someone making 64 years of age and they have never achieved something tangible, is a real disaster. Poverty kills, people die because of poverty,” he said.
The road pledges come amid concerns about the condition of transport links in western Uganda, where poor roads can increase travel times and the cost of moving agricultural produce to markets.
Residents and local leaders are expected to look to the government for implementation of the proposed works, particularly on the Mbarara–Ishaka stretch.
However, the absence of specific construction timelines leaves uncertainty over when the promised improvements will begin.