Redesign of accident-prone Kampala-Gulu highway starts

________________

Accident-prone Kampala-Gulu highway is being redesigned to cater for the increased traffic, according to an official of the Ministry of Works.

Suzan Kataike, the Principal Communications Officer at the ministry, says that the ongoing redesign will be followed by procurement of logistics as the ministry seeks to make the highway safer.

"We intend to undertake capacity improvements of the route given the increased traffic. The designs are being updated; thereafter, procurement will commence," Kataike said Thursday.

The planned reconstruction by the works ministry comes amid an outcry by leaders and road users who blame the frequent fatal accidents that happen on the Kampala-Gulu highway on the poor design of the highway.

Majority of the fatal motor crashes on this route have occurred between Kawempe and Kiryandongo.

The accident-prone highway, a critical road corridor connecting the city to northern Uganda, Congo and Sudan, was constructed by Stirling Astaldi, an Italian firm, in the late 1960s.

In 2011, the road underwent a prolonged two-phase rehabilitation that involved resealing the surface and applying an asphalt overlay to give it a longer life.

While meeting local leaders from the districts of greater Luweero in 2019, the then UNRA executive director, Allen Kagina, concurred with the local leaders that the highway was too narrow, measuring only six meters wide instead of the ideal seven meters.

Kagina explained that the Energo project, the Serbian firm which rehabilitated the highway in 2011, maintained its old design of the late 1960s without widening the shoulders. 

"We just put an overlay," Kagina said.

She also admitted that some sections of the highway were in a poor shape, especially the areas around Nakasongola town.  

 What the leaders say

According to Nakasongola MP, Noah Mutebi, the road has no parking reserves in trading centres, it is too narrow and lacks humps to control overspeeding by motorists, resulting in frequent fatal accidents.

Mutebi says that several spots, including Kikoma, Balikyewunya, Kakooge, Sasira and Wabigalo, have turned into black spots where accidents occur almost daily.

According to former Nakasongola RDC, Dan Muganga, the road is slippery and also overgrown with bushes, leading to poor visibility. He says that accidents occur daily along the stretch.

Kyevunze LC1 chairman, Haruna Lwanga, says the highway lacks climbing lanes, has no parking reserves for buses, has no diversion routes and has no ideal stopovers where motorists can have a break.

Lwanga urges the government to consider redesigning the highway as a priority. He says the road has remained in an incomplete stage for a number of years, with no proper drainage and no proper finishing.

Past fatal crashes on  Kampala-Gulu highway 

In October 2025, two buses, a lorry and a Toyota Surf were involved in a multiple collision at Kataleba village in Kiryandongo, killing 43 people on the spot. 

In February 2020, eight passengers died on the spot when their taxi collided with a prison truck at Kibisi on the Bombo-Luweero highway.

In 2018, a fast-moving coach had rammed into a grader at Kiryandongo, instantly killing 22 passengers who were on board.