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Why are the roads in Kampala forever bad?
A Kampala Capital City Authority worker fills a pothole with soil on Mukwano Road in Kampala on April 13. PHOTO | FRANK BAGUMA
What you need to know:
- Experts say a cocktail of issues, including corruption, bad management, ineptitude, and duplication of works, have, however, slowed down—and in some cases hindered—the efficient implementation of the projects.
More than Shs2 trillion has been allocated for roadworks in Kampala over the past eight years, a sum that would have had a substantial impact on the city’s failing road infrastructure.
Experts say a cocktail of issues, including corruption, bad management, ineptitude, and duplication of works, have, however, slowed down—and in some cases hindered—the efficient implementation of the projects.
According to documents examined by this publication, the postponed Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project (KCRRP), which is supported by a $288 million (about Shs1.07 trillion) loan from the Africa Development Bank, is likely to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor—the Kampala Institution Infrastructure Development Project (KIIDP). Details we have pored over indicate that a large portion of the money intended for road construction has been ring-fenced for unrelated uses.
Which money are we talking about here?
We will break it down into three:
a) The World Bank Loan
In 2015, KCCA received a Shs683.2 billion loan from the World Bank to support the KIIDP. The project had two components, including to widen, upgrade and construct city roads drainages and associated infrastructure.
The project was expected to improve urban mobility, inclusive urban growth in the five divisions of Kampala—Kawempe, Central, Nakawa, Rubaga and Makindye.
The second component was the institutional and systems development support, which aims to strengthen the capacity of KCCA to deliver on its mandate.
KCCA was to establish an automated register for all properties and roads in the city, construct a traffic control centre, locate and name premises and roads in the city and streamline revenue management systems.
b) JICA cash
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2015 signed a partnership with KCCA with the intention to decongest and control traffic in Kampala. Subsequently, JICA extended Shs300 billion to construct the first phase of the Kampala flyover from Clock Tower along Mukwano Road and Kitgum House. The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) took over the project whose works commenced in December 2018. The loan has a repayment period of 40 years. Last year, on November 8, JICA and KCCA signed another partnership of Shs63 billion meant to upgrade the signalisation of 29 junctions and a traffic control tower.
c) AfDB loan
The $288 million loan project was designed with an aim of increasing the stock and quality of strategic infrastructure to accelerate Uganda’s competitiveness. Implementation was supposed to start in July 2021 and last for 48 months. But close to two years later, it is yet to take effect. The project is funded by the African Development Bank and African Development Fund (AfDB). According to KCCA, the project works will include the reconstruction of at least 100km of roads, 123km of walkways, construction of 30 public toilets and covered drainage.
The project will also include upgrading of 22 junctions, construction of six roadside markets and training youth and women groups.
The project also includes construction of parking areas for commercial vehicles, installation of 1,600 street lights and landscaping works.
So what did KCCA deliver on the $183m World Bank loan?
Some of the projects completed under the loan, include the Fairway Junction, Kira road and Kabira Junction, Mambule Road and Bwaise Junction, Makerere Hill Road, Bakuli-Nankulabye-Kasubu Road, including extensions to Kyadondo and Nsalo roads.
Other components that have faced significant delays, include Kulambiro Ring, Najeera Link, Nakawa-Ntinda and Acacia Avenue. Others are Kabuusu-Bunamwaya-Lweza, Lukuli Road, Lubigi drainage channel, Nakamiro Secondary.
Some of the issues cited for the significant delays included delay in contract approval, the Covid-19 pandemic, and contractor cash flow challenges.
A January 24 report by the KCCA Executive Secretary for Works and Physical Planning notes that “much has not been achieved because the project has been marred with obscenely inflated bills of quantities and unit costs, shadowy works by contractors, corruption, among others.”
The report further reads: “…the City Executive Committee was horror-struck when its findings indicated that there was a hatched plan to siphon the borrowed monies, after a thorough study and scrutiny of the Kampala Institution Infrastructure Development Projects (KIIDP11), it was revealed that colossal monies were unjustifiably spent whereby a kilometre of a road was constructed at a tune of approximately Shs10 billion.”
What is happening with the AfDB loan roads?
Allegations of different shades of corruption have already stoked the AfDB-funded Kampala City Rehabilitation Project (KCRRP), whose implementation has been delayed even as the state of the city roads worsens.
Last year, for example, ombudsman Beti Kamya directed KCCA to cancel the procurement process for the Lot Four road project over bribery claims. Ms Kamya also ordered a fresh evaluation of the component.
KCCA’s executive arm led by Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago also accused KCCA management of pricing a kilometre of road at an average of Shs15.4 billion under this loan. The KCCA team led by executive director Dorothy Kisaka has, on several occasions, denied the allegations.
“This is exorbitantly high when compared to a standard unit cost in the region. For example, in Nairobi City, one kilometre of tarmac road costs approximately $1m (Shs3.7 billion) while in Kigali City, one kilometre of a paved road costs approximately $800,000 which totals to Shs2.96 billion. Locally in Masaka City, under the USMID project funded by the World Bank, a kilometre costs Shs1 billion,” Mr Lukwago said.
What is KCCA’s defence?
KCCA management priced the construction of 69.34km of road at Shs910.9 billion. The road network—packaged in five lots—includes 134km of walkways, and cycling tracks.
It also includes five kilometres of storm water drainage works, signalisation of 16 junctions, smart street lighting (1,600 lamps), tree planting, six roadside markets for women vendors, 30 public toilets, parking areas for trucks and bicycle taxis and construction of a bus depot.
Mr Lukwago-led executive, however, insists that the AfDB loan should cover at least 200km of roads. They insist that some of the components added onto the project are either not a priority or are conduits for stealing public funds. For example, the signalisation of the 16 junctions is already covered under the JICA funded project.
So has KCCA made good on what it promises?
In June last year, Ms Kisaka informed the public that the authority was going to install 42,000 lights in the city courtesy of funding from the French Development Agency (AFD).
Mr Lukwago says KCCA management is yet to demonstrate the availability of the land to construct the six roadside markets for women vendors and the 30 public toilets tagged on the project.
“We all know the roads that are being talked about are already so narrow for pedestrians and motorists. We continue to wonder where the six road markets will be constructed on the said roads, at what cost, on whose approval among others,” Kizza Hakim Sawula notes in a missive to the KCCA speaker.
President Museveni also threw out the procurement of eco-buses that KCCA management had tagged on the road and compelled the officials to dedicate the funds to the construction of more roads.
Ms Kisaka conceded in a statement published on January 11. “This saving [a result of Museveni’s directive] will see us construct more 16km of roads, whereby roads like Kitezi are going to benefit. The dual carriage of some roads like Old Port Bell Road will increase the construction works by 14km. This brings the whole total of kilometres to be reconstructed to 100km,” Ms Kisaka is quoted in the statement.
What else reduces the number of kilometres on KCCA AfDB roads?
KCCA management has also budgeted Shs55.3 billion for “project management” and this would cater to supervision of civil works, monitoring and evaluation and technical audit services. The money is also supposed to cater to project implementation support to KCCA, financial audit by the Office of the Auditor General and development of urban design guidelines.
Mr Lukwago insists that most if not all the money under these components should be whittled down to add more kilometres of road to the project. This, he says, is because the people to undertake the services are either KCCA employees who are already paid or the agencies from which they come have already been facilitated to do the work.
The Lukwago-led team argues that all the items under project management are duplicated roles and the sums allocated “outrageously exorbitant.”
“The challenges in Kampala are road construction currently but not equipment. Under project management, part of the $14.95 million goes to a finance audit by the Office of the Auditor General. Is it our mandate to budget for the office of The Auditor General to audit civil works in KCCA?” Mr Sawula notes.
The KCCA management also budgeted Shs41 billion for compensation and resettlement, but the Lukwago team argues that this money should be used to construct more kilometres of roads because the public donated land to the Authority at no cost. He says elected leaders engaged the public to that effect.
