Fuel, bitumen price hikes slowing ongoing projects, says works ministry
Contractors say fuel prices have risen from about sh3,800–sh4,200 per litre when some road projects were contracted to nearly sh7,000 in some parts of the country, slowing construction works.
Fuel, bitumen price hikes slowing ongoing projects, says works ministry
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Fuel price volatility and shortages have been cited as causes of delays in the completion of ongoing road and bridge construction projects.
Ministry of Works and Transport (MOWT) officials disclosed this on Monday, August 10, 2026, during an engagement with Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Government Assurances Committee, chaired by vice chairperson Anne Adeke Ebaju, the Soroti District Woman MP (FDC).
Those present included works and transport state minister Musa Ali, commissioner for national roads Eng. Isaac Wani and Eng. Sharp Tumwine, among others.
Case in point
A case in point is Lot 4 of the six strategic bridge projects in Uganda, comprising Maziba Bridge on the Kigata-Kabunyonyi-Nyakigugwe Road, Kiruruma Bridge on the Katojo-Kihihi Road, Rwembyo and Kajwenge bridges on the Kinyamaseke-Kisinga-Kyarumba-Kibirizi Road, and Kamirwa and Nyakambu bridges on the Kabwohe-Bwizibwera Road.
Works commenced on September 3, 2021, and were initially scheduled for completion on September 3, 2024.
Spillover effects of Iran-US war
However, the completion date was revised to April 4, 2026, with state minister Musa Ali partly attributing the delay to spillover effects from the ongoing Iran-US war.
“When these people quote for these contracts, they quote fuel at a certain price. When these prices double, it becomes very difficult for them to work with these prices and what could buy a certain amount of fuel means that they cannot get as much fuel they would have got. And this is the same problem we are facing with bitumen whose prices have gone up. Contractors are finding it difficult to surface the roads because a lot of the bitumen is coming in from Iran,” he said.
Chipping in, Eng. Isaac Wani explained that the situation had initially been compounded by debts the ministry inherited from the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), which the Government managed to clear. However, just as works were due to resume, war broke out.
“When contractors resumed work, we were faced with this challenge of fuel. That’s why it became very significant. That we were now not able to progress at full speed because some of the bridges are expected to be completed this year. But because of this issue of fuel now, it is becoming one of the key hindrances on most projects,” Wani quipped.
“On the issue of fuel, there are two aspects here. One is scarcity, of recent in some areas, fuel has been scarce. Contractors cannot have the quantities that they need to sustain works. Then number two, we all know that most of these projects are like four years old when a litre of fuel was between sh3,800 and sh4,200. But currently, in some areas within the country, fuel is at almost sh7,000,” he cited.
MPs react
However, Serere Woman MP Esther Lucy Acom called for a breakdown of the increase in construction costs to help the committee better understand the situation.
“You are all aware this Kisanja (term of office) is about no more sleep and corruption. The Honorable Minister has talked about fuel having increased. But practically, we needed to have a table that could convince a layman that this was the earlier quotation by the contract and this is the current quotation owing to the increase in fuel. So that we are all on the same page,” Acom advised.