RT. HON. PRIME MINISTER ROBINAH NABBANJA PLEDGES SWIFT ACTION ON TOURISM ROADS AND AIRPORTS VOWS TO DELIVER CEO RESOLUTIONS TO PRESIDENT
FORT PORTAL – In a pivotal address that marked the culmination of the 6th Bi-Annual CEO Retreat, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja delivered a direct, detailed, and decisive response to the private sector's most urgent concerns, committing the government to immediate action on critical infrastructure and personally vowing to champion the retreat's resolutions at the highest level of state.
Her speech was the moment the room of CEOs, investors, and tourism operators had been waiting for. After two days of intense debate, particularly around the dilapidated state of key tourism roads, the Prime Minister offered not just assurances but a specific plan of action. Acknowledging the poor state of the Mityana-Mubende-Fort Portal Road, she revealed a direct financial intervention.
“The contractor is Energo, but Energo got several challenges,” she explained candidly. “I want to promise that with this money he's going to receive, around 50 billion [shillings], it will push him to some level.” For the equally crucial Mubende-Kyegegwa-Kazo section, she announced that the Ministry of Works’ in-house engineering unit would be deployed for forward maintenance to ensure the road is motorable.
The Prime Minister then turned to air connectivity, another cornerstone of the retreat’s discussions. She provided a strategic overview of the government’s plans, demonstrating a nuanced approach to regional development. She confirmed that plans are underway with private investors to upgrade both Mbarara and Kasese aerodromes to international standards. In a display of transparent governance, she also explained the geographical and aviation limitations preventing a similar upgrade for the Kisoro aerodrome but immediately offered the strategic alternative being explored.
“We recently had a meeting, which I chaired in my office, and looked at Kabale-Nyamitanga, because for them, they have no aviation limitations,” she stated, highlighting the government’s proactive search for viable solutions.
The most significant commitment, however, came in her response to the 16-point resolutions that the private sector had meticulously crafted. She positioned herself not just as a recipient of the document but as its dedicated courier to the Presidency.
“I will give other resolutions to the President. They are very pertinent. I have taken note of them, and I promise that when I go back, we will go through the resolutions one by one,” she pledged. This promise transformed the resolutions from a list into an official agenda item for the executive, marking a profound success for the public-private dialogue model championed by the Presidential CEO Forum.