Members of the parliamentary committee on physical infrastructure have asked the Government to allocate more funds to Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for the rehabilitation of roads in the city and neighboring suburbs.

The MPs, who were accompanied by David Luyimbazi, the KCCA Deputy Executive Director, spent the better part of the day touring a number of roads in Kampala for an on-the-spot check to establish the status of roads.

The legislators called for the rehabilitation of roads in the greater Kampala metropolitan areas in the Wakiso and Mukono districts as well as Entebbe Municipality.

This past week, there was an outcry on social media on the poor state of Kampala roads that has been made worse by the heavy rains. The pictures and videos of any roads that had been rendered nearly impassable were shared on social media.    
Now, Members of Parliament on the physical infrastructure committee went on a fact-finding mission in Kampala and spent the day ascertaining the status of roads in the capital city.

The MPs were welcomed by what had been left of the roads in Nakawa and Rubaga Division as well as the city center. In some areas, the team found KCCA workmen trying to patch up some of the potholes.
During the tour, the MPs unanimously agreed that KCCA should be allocated adequate funds to enable the authority rehabilitee promptly all roads within the city and the metropolitan area.

Kcca was allocated 10 billion shillings in the forthcoming financial year for the rehabilitation of roads but KCCA Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka says they need over 60 billion shillings to do a good job.

MPs on the budget committee suggested that one billion shillings from the Road Fund that is allocated to each district be deducted and allocated to KCCA as a one-off for the rehabilitation of roads.
This suggestion has, however, received mixed reactions with some MPs insisting that the Road Fund allocations are meant to cater to rural roads which are also in a terrible state

The Uganda Road Funds receives 467 billion shillings from the national budget to fund road works across the country. These will henceforth receive an additional one billion shillings per district to cater for community roads.
The KCCA Deputy Executive Director, David Luyimbazi who accompanied the legislators in checking the state of city roads asked them to reconsider the budget and give the authority sufficient funds to enable it to do stronger long-lasting roads and also do timely periodic maintenance.
The MPs also asked KCCA to construct and/or rehabilitate alternative roads in the suburbs not only to reduce pressure on the main roads but ease traffic flow in the city since many productive hours are lost in a traffic jam.

Ramson