KCCA blames potholes on budget cuts

What you need to know:

Solution. Kampala Capital City Authority says because most of the city roads have outlived their lifespan, there is need to construct new roads.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has blamed potholes on the government decision to cut road maintenance budget from Shs30b in the Financial Year 2017/18 to Shs22.5b in the Financial Year 2018/19. The Authority has also blamed the potholes on the rainy season.

Mr Andrew Kitaka, the KCCA acting executive director, yesterday explained in a telephone interview that the potholes have emerged because most of the city roads have outlived their lifespan.

Perseverance. A trailer dodges a pothole on Mukwano Road yesterday.

He also promised to build new roads in the city.
“The rainy season is on and that is what water does to roads,” Mr Kitaka said, adding that KCCA had the opportunity to fix the potholes during dry season but that the Authority did not do it because the patching effect is not helping on such old roads.

This newspaper toured various potholed roads in the Central Business District and other areas in Central, Makindye and Nakawa divisions to assess the damage.

**Navigation.** Motorists dodge a deep pothole on the Ntinda-Bukoto road yesterday.

A number of the roads have been damaged with nearly no asphalt and in some sections, there are roads with giant potholes, cutting across the road.

Some motorists had no kind words for KCCA and government. They complained about losses they incur as they replace the vehicle suspension systems, tires and bumpers.

“The roads are narrow and yet the cars are many. With the potholes, I spend about Shs700,000 on replacing shock absorbers,” Mr Edward Kivumbi, a special hire driver at Garden City, said.

**Dangerous.** A motorist drives into a pothole on 8th Street, Industrial Area in Kampala next to Total yesterday.

Mr John Bazanya, a boda boda rider at Kyambogo Stage, attributed the poor state of the city roads to poor drainage at the junction, which was caused by the construction of a petrol station on the drainage line.

Mr Joel Waiswa, an engineer with KCCA, however, said besides outliving their lifespan, all major roads especially in Kampala were constructed for low traffic in the 1990s and do not have drainage systems because they have either been destroyed or blocked, worsen the road situation.