MP Muhammad Nsereko (Kampala Central, Indep) has appealed for an enhanced budget for infrastructure projects within the capital city. 

He echoed this during a plenary debate on April 12, 2024, on the Presidential Affairs Committee report on ministerial policy statements and budget estimates for the 2024/25 financial year.

Nsereko contended that there was a need to raise Kampala’s road infrastructure and maintenance budget in the next fiscal year.

This he said is imperative to avoid embarrassment. 

“We saw they gave about sh157b but the request was about sh500b. We were all in Kigali the other time for benchmarking, look at Bujumbura now. We are the worst, shabbiest city in East Africa. It's reality, you don’t even have to shun that,” he pointed out.

Concerning garbage disposal, Nsereko stated that whereas President Yoweri Museveni had ordered for a dust bin every 300 meters, little has been achieved.

“We have not achieved that, we only have about seven functional garbage trucks for the entire city and the metropolitan. So you can imagine the amount of garbage left in our dwelling places,” he cited. 

Committee findings

According to the Presidential Affairs Committee report that was presented by Jessica Ababiku (Adjumani Woman MP, NRM), Kampala has a total of 2,104 km. Of these, 770km (36%) are paved and 1,333km (64%) are unpaved.

In their report, MPs also found out that only 12.9% of the network is in good condition.

“KCCA requires sh200bn (domestic development) to undertake road infrastructure development and maintenance but only sh43bn is provided in the MTEF-ceiling of Vote 122 resulting in a funding gap of sh157bn,” lawmakers noted.

Documents seen by New Vision show that KCCA is projected to receive external financing amounting to sh549.08billion.

This will be in respect to the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project and the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Program.

These aforementioned interventions are projected to reconstruct 116.14km and upgrade 53.46km of roads in the 2024/25 FY.

Besides recommending the provision of sh157b to KCCA for road maintenance, the authority has also bagged sh134bn.

This will go towards the construction of drainage channels and expansion of culvert crossings along roads to be implemented.

Kampala-Jinja Expressway

During the same sitting, Eng. Robert Kasolo (iki-iki County, NRM) inquired about the progress of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway. 

According to Kasolo, delays in having the highway constructed is driving up the cost of doing business.

“We want the minister to assure us how serious they are with this road, the Kampala-Jinja Expressway. We needed it yesterday but up to now it seems there is no commitment from the Government. That puts us in a dilemma,” Kasolo lamented.

Furthermore, he retorted that whereas the loan for this road was processed four years ago, “in the report they have only provided for 40 hectares to be compensated...but what is required to be compensated is around 800 hectares.”

Responding to the above, State Minister for Finance (Planning) Amos Lugoloobi assured MPs that the public-private partnership (PPP) is about to take off.

“We have acquired resources involving the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is providing $229.5million (sh871.8bn). This is being negotiated, we are in the final stages,” Lugoloobi explained.

“The French Development Agency provided €90m (sh364.8bn) and we are also getting a grant from the European Union of $90m (sh341.9bn). Now the private players are expected to provide $800m (sh3tn),” he further cited.