KCCA to reconstruct 70km of roads in Kampala
A motorist dodges flooded potholes on Seventh Street in Industrial Area, Kampala on December 22, 2022. PHOTO | FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- Records at KCCA indicate that at least 360km of city roads have outlived their service lives and need to be reconstructed.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has named some of the roads in the city which are set to be reconstructed next year .
In an interview with this publication on Wednesday, the executive director of KCCA, Ms Dorothy Kisaka, said the roads add up to about 70km.
They include Wamala and Luwafu in Rubaga, Kabega and Kayemba in Makindye, Eighth Street in Central and Portbell Road in Nakawa.
Ms Kisaka said the roads in question have outlived their life span and would be reconstructed starting February next year.
She added that the government has already secured $288m (Shs1 trillion) from the African Development Bank (ADB) to finance the reconstruction of the roads.
Records at KCCA indicate that at least 360km of city roads have outlived their service lives and need to be reconstructed.
While briefing journalists on the authority’s achievements, plans and challenges on Wednesday, Ms Kisaka said engineers say on average, a paved road is expected to last 15 to 20 years before reconstruction, yet the 360km roads in question have an average age of 35 to 40 years.
She added that Kampala City has 2,100km of roads of which 600km are paved or tarmacked and 1,500km are unpaved or gravel
However, to reverse the perennial challenges of flooding and potholes in Kampala, the authority said it needs between Shs100b and Shs1 trillion annually to make the roads better.
“The need is much bigger than the budget we have. It puts us in a fix. We cannot perform miracles without the money,” she said.
Ms Kisaka added that irresponsible disposal of waste and wetland encroachment were contributing to flooding in the city.
On the issue of street lights, Ms Kisaka said the French government would support the authority to install 20,000 street lights.
She said they need at least 42,000 streetlights in the whole city.
She added that the city would generate more revenue and contribute to the consolidated fund.
Ms Kisaka revealed that in the last three months, KCCA has been in charge of 16 public city markets. Ms Kisaka said the authority was able to collect millions of shillings which it put in the national coffers.
She added that in Financial Year 2021/2022, the cumulative revenue collection by the authority stood at Shs94 billion. The authority had hoped to collect Shs99 billion.
The KCCA boss also revealed that the Kampala Tourism Centre has been officially opened to boost tourism in the country.
What they say...
Raymond Muwonge, Pharmacist, “There are delays like when you are going to work in the morning. For patients, transporting them becomes a challenge and some die on the way.”
Adonia Kafuko, boda boda, “Some of our customers are patients and because of these bad roads, they reach hospitals when they have deteriorated. We don’t know whether there are plans to repair them.”
Charles Mavuuma, carpenter, “Everyone can see that Salaama Road is in a very bad state. However, we got news that the road has been put in the programme of roads to be reconstructed.”
Grace Kiima, motorist, “For us who have very low cars, the roads are impassable. One car can take like five minutes to find its way. You have to drive slowly in order to avoid damaging your car.”
Ronnie Bukenya, boda boda, “We keep asking ourselves how the government is benefiting. They ask for a lot of taxes yet they don’t use it to improve infrastructure like roads. Roads in Kampala are in a sorry state.”
Faishal Mayende, butcher, “The roads in Kampala are in a very bad state. Boda bodas have now resorted to using our walk paths while trying to avoid potholes on the roads.”
Majjidu Kabuye, driver, “I lost my airbag on Seventh Street just because of these deep potholes. It burst open and scared people. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
