Potholes: Kampala’s travel nightmare
Feb 12, 2010
PRIOR to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala in November 2007, the Ministry of Works and Transport took over the repair of Kampala roads. This was after Kampala City Council (KCC) admitted that they did not have funds to repair and ensure maintenance of city roads.
By Chris Kiwawulo
PRIOR to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala in November 2007, the Ministry of Works and Transport took over the repair of Kampala roads. This was after Kampala City Council (KCC) admitted that they did not have funds to repair and ensure maintenance of city roads.
Works and Transport Minister John Nasasira assured Ugandans that there would be no more potholes on city roads. “We have sworn that no potholes will resurface on the city roads that we have taken over,†Nasasira was quoted as saying in April 2007.
But this did not go down well with KCC and after some time, the city council asked the Central Government to return to them the authority of handling city road repairs. But the works ministry was reluctant to oblige KCC’s request. The council, therefore, chose to lodge a case in court seeking to have full authority over the repair and maintenance of city roads despite the fact that they had no funds. Consequently, the court last year granted KCC the authority to repair and maintain the roads.
If potholes were human beings, they would have celebrated the court ruling. Today, no driver in Kampala can evade them. They are all over the city, even in up-market residential areas like Kololo. For instance on Prince Charles Drive, near Lohana Academy, there are big and adjacent potholes at a bend. This often brings cars close to collision as they try to avoid them.
The gaping potholes have attracted public outcry. Violet Kisakye, a Makerere University student, said city roads are disgusting with not only potholes but also garbage littered everywhere.
Kampala Mayor Nasser Ntege Ssebagala acknowledges the problem but says they do not have money to keep the roads in good condition. He says the rainy season towards the end of 2009 worsened the situation by widening potholes. “The cost of resealing the unexpected potholes is high, yet we do not have a supplement budget to handle it. Besides, we are not allowed to borrow from any other sector,†noted Ssebaggala.
The mayor revealed that KCC had formed a fully-fledged road works and maintenance unit with equipment, but lacked enough funds to repair the roads. The mayor said KCC would reseal the potholes whenever it got more money from special revenues like street parking. “We divert such money to cater for roads because we have no particular budget for them.â€
As one of the ways to reduce the problem, President Yoweri Museveni recently directed the works ministry to maintain a number of city roads. Ssebaggala, however, said the majority of city roads would not benefit from the directive.
It only affects a few major roads that are under the central Government’s jurisdiction. Ssebaggala explained: “The roads that took us to court are those that are within the city.â€
The mayor cited roads like Kubiri-Bombo Road, Kubiri-Gayaza Road, Nakulabye-Namungoona and Kibuye-Busega, that are in Kampala but belong to the works ministry.
“We have no problem with that because it is the duty of the works ministry to work on those major roads,†he explained.
PRIOR to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala in November 2007, the Ministry of Works and Transport took over the repair of Kampala roads. This was after Kampala City Council (KCC) admitted that they did not have funds to repair and ensure maintenance of city roads.
Works and Transport Minister John Nasasira assured Ugandans that there would be no more potholes on city roads. “We have sworn that no potholes will resurface on the city roads that we have taken over,†Nasasira was quoted as saying in April 2007.
But this did not go down well with KCC and after some time, the city council asked the Central Government to return to them the authority of handling city road repairs. But the works ministry was reluctant to oblige KCC’s request. The council, therefore, chose to lodge a case in court seeking to have full authority over the repair and maintenance of city roads despite the fact that they had no funds. Consequently, the court last year granted KCC the authority to repair and maintain the roads.
If potholes were human beings, they would have celebrated the court ruling. Today, no driver in Kampala can evade them. They are all over the city, even in up-market residential areas like Kololo. For instance on Prince Charles Drive, near Lohana Academy, there are big and adjacent potholes at a bend. This often brings cars close to collision as they try to avoid them.
The gaping potholes have attracted public outcry. Violet Kisakye, a Makerere University student, said city roads are disgusting with not only potholes but also garbage littered everywhere.
Kampala Mayor Nasser Ntege Ssebagala acknowledges the problem but says they do not have money to keep the roads in good condition. He says the rainy season towards the end of 2009 worsened the situation by widening potholes. “The cost of resealing the unexpected potholes is high, yet we do not have a supplement budget to handle it. Besides, we are not allowed to borrow from any other sector,†noted Ssebaggala.
The mayor revealed that KCC had formed a fully-fledged road works and maintenance unit with equipment, but lacked enough funds to repair the roads. The mayor said KCC would reseal the potholes whenever it got more money from special revenues like street parking. “We divert such money to cater for roads because we have no particular budget for them.â€
As one of the ways to reduce the problem, President Yoweri Museveni recently directed the works ministry to maintain a number of city roads. Ssebaggala, however, said the majority of city roads would not benefit from the directive.
It only affects a few major roads that are under the central Government’s jurisdiction. Ssebaggala explained: “The roads that took us to court are those that are within the city.â€
The mayor cited roads like Kubiri-Bombo Road, Kubiri-Gayaza Road, Nakulabye-Namungoona and Kibuye-Busega, that are in Kampala but belong to the works ministry.
“We have no problem with that because it is the duty of the works ministry to work on those major roads,†he explained.