City roads get new look after summits

Uganda’s hosting of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77+ China summits has been a blessing to road users in Kampala and surrounding areas.

The population that had consistently complained about bumpy potholed city roads and flooding could not hide their joy when the renovation and refurbishment of the NAM roads started taking shape.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), which was part of the national organising committee of both summits, worked on the roads and other infrastructure ahead of the January 15 and 23 back-to-back events.

“Generally the city, especially in Makindye and parts of Central Division have had their skyline improve substantially and the formerly usual traffic jams and air pollution have reduced,” Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the KCCA executive director, said in an interview yesterday.

“The roads are motorable, the flood hotspots are gone, some streets now have dustbins, trees have been planted, landscaping has been done, roadside houses have been painted and frontages improved, roundabouts and greenspaces flourishing with plants, noise pollution has been abated, among others.  We plan to spread this work method to other divisions,” she added.

The works involved fixing 15km of city roads, drainages, walkways, street lighting and greening.  

Some of the roads that were rehabilitated include; Mukwano Road, Press House Road, Prince Badru Kakungulu Road, Ggaba Road, Salaama Road, Mobutu Road, Bunga Soya Culvert crossing, Cape Road, Tank Hill Road, Auto Spa and UCB rise, among others.

The residents were also tasked to refurbish their buildings, pave and beautify their frontages.
“There was a good response, especially on Ggaba Road, where there was visible greening, cleaning and paving. We put emphasis at frontages. Every resident should take care of their space,” Ms Kisaka said.

All the NAM roads and others, including those leading to hotels that accommodated delegates, were spruced with palm trees and flowers

According to KCCA, the funds injected in refurbishing NAM roads was part of the Shs78b development funding that the government allocated to the authority last year.

An estimated Shs35b was spent on the road infrastructure and related activities.

In addition, children who previously roamed from street to street to beg money from sympathisers, were taken off. 

However, Ms Kisaka said the removal of children from the street was meant to ensure their safety.
She said plans are underway to spread this work method used on NAM roads to other divisions.  The KCCA executive director urged road users to use the new infrastructure responsibly.

Ms Kisaka said developing and refurbishing city infrastructure, including fixing the contentious city potholes, would be among the authority’s key priorities for this year.

“We want to say goodbye to the potholes in the city. This is one of our key focuses and the government has made a commitment that the song of potholes is going to become a song of the past.

In 2024, KCCA is focusing on ensuring that the city is vibrant, with public transport solutions, trading spaces, roads and drainage improvement and proper lighting around the city,”she said.