UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | The poor condition of Kampala’s roadways is about to change, with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the entity in charge of running the nation’s capital, poised to commence reconstruction of Kampala’s roads in February 2023.
This follows the government’s acquisition of $288 million to address issues with 69.7km of highways in five divisions in Kampala. The roadways will now be broader with drainage, footpaths, and street lighting included.
In her closing remarks for the year 2022, KCCA Executive Director Ms Dorothy Kisaka mentioned that there are 2,100 km of roads in the city, but only 600 km of them are paved or tarmacked, while 1,500 km are still gravel.
She said, “of the paved network, 360km in Kampala are over 35 years old and have been patched and repaired too many times. Experts say that, on average, a good paved road is expected to last 15 – 20 years before reconstruction. The 360km road network needs overhauling, they have outlived their lifetime.”
Road upgrading, overhauling, and reconstruction will be done in stages. As a result, a plan to reconstruct at least 50km per year would cost around UGX375 billion annually to be able to fix the crumbling roads.
In this way, the old roadways will be eliminated in seven years, according to Ms Kisaka.
In contrast to the USh26 billion that they now get, she claims that they require an average of UGX 100 billion a year to keep the roads in a motorable state, including management of street lighting, traffic signals, road safety, and sidewalks.
Ms Kisaka attributed the increased wear and tear to the increasing number of cars on the roadways.
On the water floods, she said, “The poor waste disposal practices overstrain our roads. Residents throw polythene and organic food into drainages, and they get blocked. The drainages are not wide enough to carry large volumes of rainwater. Construction in wetlands ruined waterways.”
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