By Frank Kamuntu
The Deputy Executive Director of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), David Luyimbazi, has stated that it will take 32 years to eliminate all potholes in Kampala if the government maintains the current funding rate for road construction.
Appearing before the Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE), Luyimbazi addressed concerns from MPs about the city’s pothole problem. He explained that KCCA manages approximately 2,100 kilometers of roads, of which 650 kilometers are paved. About 60% of these paved roads have outlived their design life, meaning roughly 320 kilometers need reconstruction. Given the current funding, KCCA can only repair about 10 kilometers of road annually.
“We have been receiving a budget of about Shillings 64 – 70 billion every financial year for the past three years. With the unit cost of Shillings 6-7 billion per kilometer, we can only manage about 10 kilometers a year. To reconstruct the 320 kilometers needed, we would require 32 years at this rate,” Luyimbazi explained.
Eddie Kwizera, the Bukimbiri County MP questioned whether KCCA was comfortable being known for its potholes, highlighting the city’s deteriorating road conditions. In response, Luyimbazi emphasized the significant funding shortfall KCCA faces.
Dorothy Kisaka, KCCA’s Executive Director, rejected the notion that KCCA identifies itself with potholes, instead blaming insufficient funding. “Nobody wants to be known negatively. Our budget hasn’t met the needs for dealing with the potholes. We have been promised a substantial budget for the next financial year, and some of these issues will be addressed. Without proper funding, we can’t achieve much,” Kisaka stated.
Muhammad Nsereko, the Kampala Central Constituency Representative urged fellow MPs to support KCCA’s call for increased funding. “The potholes in Kampala have turned our capital city into a kraal. We need to raise adequate resources to make Kampala look like a capital city again,” Nsereko said.
Following the Kampala Pothole Exhibition on social media in 2023, the government announced Shillings 592.08 billion in the 2024/25 National Budget to address flooding, traffic congestion, poor road infrastructure, un-signalized junctions, street lighting, and storm water drainage in Kampala.
Additionally, in August 2023, Parliament approved a loan of Shs2.2 trillion to finance the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Program (GKMA-UDP). This includes US$518 million (Shs1.915 trillion) from the World Bank Group, accompanied by a US$48 million (Shs177.502 billion) grant, and a Euro40 million (Shs159.712 billion) loan from Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
The project aims to improve infrastructure in Kampala and eight other metropolitan local government entities: Entebbe, Kira, Makindye-Ssebagabo, Mukono, and Nansana municipalities, as well as Mukono, Mpigi, and Wakiso districts.
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