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:

1. 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.

1. 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.