According to Hon. Kyofa Kabuye, the State Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Kampala City is in dire need of a 10-year master plan to renovate its roads and drainage infrastructure, which is estimated to cost Shs800 billion annually. The Minister stated that the city’s road and drainage maintenance needs could be partially met with supplementary funding of Shs40 billion from the Uganda Road Fund. However, KCCA’s limited road maintenance is attributed to budget cuts, underfunding, and delayed release of funds.
To reconstruct the backlog of 353km of paved roads in fair and poor condition, Kyofa Kabuye said KCCA requires at least Shs2.2 trillion. In addition, the authority needs an estimated Shs610 billion to implement the Kampala Drainage Master Plan covering 78km of primary drainage and 134km of secondary drainage.
The Committee on Physical Infrastructure recommended that the Ministry of Finance should allocate more funds to KCCA to support the development of KCCA roads. Hon. David Karubanga, the Committee Chairperson, suggested that the Uganda Road Fund should increase the percentage allocated to KCCA, considering the benefits that local governments and urban authorities will receive from the Shs1 billion allocated to them.
Hon. Nathan Byanyima and Hon. Abubaker Kawalya urged Parliament to direct more funds to KCCA to maintain the roads and improve the city’s infrastructure, especially since Kampala contributes over 65% of the GDP. Hon. Muhammad Nsereko emphasized the need to allocate funds for road drainage systems to prevent roads from being washed away by heavy runoff water.
Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition, called on Parliament to ensure adequate funding is allocated to KCCA to improve the city’s road infrastructure, adding that the budget has insufficient expenditure lines.
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