Kampala–Entebbe Expressway to light up by month's end

In less than a month, the Kampala–Entebbe Expressway will be fully lit, following the successful procurement of more than 1000 street lights and their light poles along its 49.56km stretch. 

Hitherto, the hybrid road remains engulfed in darkness with no streetlights, making it dangerous for motorists who use it at night, because of its attractiveness to insecurity and criminality. 

According to the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) executive director, Allen Kagina, the lights await clearance from the Uganda Revenue Authority, and as soon as they are cleared for taxes, the installation will commence. 

“I don’t know how fast the clearance of taxes will be, but my expectation is that by the end of the week, we should have gone through the process,” she said, on the sidelines of a partnership with MTN, to facilitate the electronic payment of road toll fees. 

Kagina said the contractor, Egis, has ready earmarked the points where the lighting poles will be erected and only waiting for the lights to install. 

Egis is in charge of the installation of the street lighting, supply of toll and traffic equipment, operation, maintenance and toll collection on behalf of UNRA for a duration of five years, with a possible extension of two years.  

Meanwhile, she said, the roads prefect has so far collected approximately sh17.2b in tolling services, over the last six months, with more than twenty thousand vehicles per day using the route on average, above their initial estimates of sixteen thousand vehicles. 

Tolling commenced on January 08, 20222 and has been operational for the last six months. Previously, motorists were required to pay only cash at the point of sale, at the toll booth, but now they can pay using their mobile money balances. 

“This is expected to increase convenience because there is no reason why someone should drive all the way to the tolling point to have their Upesi card recharged. Later, we shall onboard other service providers like Airtel money and Stanbic flex pay,” she said. 

The Entebbe Expressway requires payment to grant access for usage, and a fee of different amounts is levied at the toll gates and access is granted to the different classes of motor vehicles and motorbikes. 

Richard Yego, the Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Limited said: “The partnership between MTN Mobile Money and UNRA will facilitate safe and convenient fee top-ups on the Upesi card that allows motorists to access passage on the Entebbe Express highway. All one needs is to log into the MoMo app or use USSD to top up their Upesi card.”