Public expenditure tracking on road infrastructure in Uganda: The case study of Pallisa and Soroti Districts

The main message of this study is that public action by making the choice to invest in infrastructure, has to be taken to alleviate the plight of Uganda’s economy which is endowed with adverse, natural or geographical aspects like tropical climate. Drawing from the existing literature of the various channels or means through which infrastructure affects growth, this study argues for strengthening structures and implementation in the promotion of infrastructure particularly rural roads. In order to identify the sector constraints, the study utilized public expenditure tracking and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in the two selected districts of Pallisa and Soroti. The findings indicate that not all resources reach the beneficiary levels; capacity challenges exist both among the staff and service providers. This situation is worsened by inadequate funding for rural roads provision. First, apart from increasing public investment, the most important role to be played by the government in this changing scenario will include: strengthening capacity among the local government staff; carrying out performance audit on various firms that execute the works; and maintain road machinery in sound working conditions for provision of better and efficient roads network.