Uganda to construct roads connecting to Central African Republic, says Museveni

KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda will partner with Central African Republic (CAR) to build a network of roads connecting the northern border part of the East African country to a township in CAR’s southeastern corner as the two landlocked countries aim to boost trade ties, President Museveni announced on Wednesday.  

“Together with CAR, we want to persuade the governments of Congo and South Sudan that we work on the roads from Arua (northern Uganda) to Isiro (Congo) and then to Obbo (CAR),” the Ugandan leader said.

“Then we need to persuade South Sudan for a road through Yei, Maridi and Yambio…up to CAR. Then, the East Africa Community (EAC) will be linked by road to CAR and beyond,” he elaborated.

Uganda and CAR are physically apart by over 1, 100 kms, geographically separated by Congo and South Sudan.

The 80-year-old Ugandan leader revealed that they had agreed to the ambitious road project through a long October 8 discussion with visiting CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who attended Uganda’s 62^nd Independence anniversary a day later.

Speaking at the commemoration, Museveni did not give actual construction commencement dates or the cost for the roads, which he says are key as the EAC diversifies to new markets in a bid to tame dependence on what he termed as “parasitic foreign markets.”

He also encouraged Uganda’s national carrier to consider establishing a direct route to the CAR capital Bangui.

“I invite our air cargo companies and the Uganda Airlines to look at the possibility of flying Bangui. Even if it is not daily but some few times so that we can link up with our brothers and sisters there,” he told Wednesday’s gathering in Eastern Uganda’s Busia District.

Museveni emphasized that the EAC’s connection to the nation of over 6 million people, which has endured several armed groups and over 10 years of a civil war, will create inter-regional market linkages.

“Love Africa because you need it for your prosperity. We need Africa for the bigger market,” he observed before he reiterated pledges to complete the 332km Standard Gauge Railway from Malaba (Kenya) to Kampala. 

Finishing the project commonly known as SGR -estimated to cost over $2.2 billion- has been pending since its commissioning in 2013.