The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has stepped in to address work-related tension among employees stationed at the three Entebbe Expressway toll stations. For nearly a week, workers have been protesting against poor working conditions, some even taking to social media to voice their grievances.
According to some of these posts, employees are being forced to work for 12 hours, instead of the eight hours stipulated in their contracts.
UNRA Executive Director, Allen Kagina, has called for a crisis meeting with top supervisors to resolve the situation. UNRA also tweeted on Sunday, indicating that a site meeting with Egis, the French company contracted to manage and collect toll fees on the highway, was convened. The aim of the meeting was to offer immediate action to the concerns raised by staff and the public.
Sunday Office: @UNRA_ED has convened a site meeting with @Egis, the Contractor on Kampala—Entebbe Expressway following unprecedented crisis reports from the public & Staff working on the toll road.
This is intended to offer immediate action to the concerns raised. pic.twitter.com/CL1zGtdvRj
— UNRA_UGANDA (@UNRA_UG) February 26, 2023
In a statement to our Reporter, UNRA spokesperson Allan Ssempebwa said that the meeting addressed the concerns raised by staff working on the road. He further stated that the contractor was tasked with ensuring adequate communication between themselves and their staff to avoid gaps of misrepresentation and unfairness.
Unra has three different workstations, Kajjansi, Mpala, and Busega, each with 20 to 25 collectors. An anonymous toll collector from Mpala Station alleged that they were being forced to work for 12 hours instead of the eight hours stipulated in their contracts.
However, Mr. Ssempebwa refuted these claims, saying that it was only a nightmare being mooted by the contractor. He added that effective communication would have prevented the situation from escalating.
The meeting at the weekend resolved to establish a staff council that will ensure the immediate resolution of issues so that workers will be able to air out their grievances. However, some employees attending a meeting organized by the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway human resource team in Busega alleged that they were being convinced to adjust to the 12-hour schedule.
Despite repeated attempts to get a comment from Egis, our sources were unable to obtain any statement from the French company, and emails sent to their website went unanswered.
UNRA has assured the public that they will continue to work with Egis to ensure the smooth operation of the Entebbe Expressway toll stations and that the welfare of their employees will be a top priority.
The post UNRA intervenes to address protests by toll station workers over poor conditions appeared first on The Ankole Times.
