New Katosi road boosts growth in Mukono, Buikwe

Tarmacking of the Mukono-Katosi-Nyenga road has increased the value of land in Mukono and Buikwe districts.
Tarmacking of the 74km road began in 2014 at a cost of Shs283b and is projected to be completed in December, according to the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) head of corporate communications, Mr Mark Ssali.

Work on the road is nearly complete, with less than 20km left.
The road has also created an alternative route for motorists, hence decongesting the accident-prone Kampala-Jinja highway.
The Mukono-Kayunga-Njeru road is the other alternative route connecting to the eastern part of the country.
The Buikwe District chairperson, Mr Mathias Kigongo, says the tarmacking of the road has also increased population in the area.
“Right now, many people are rushing to buy plots of land on the new tarmac road, which has resulted in an increase in prices of land,” Mr Kigongo says.

Land prices
Previously, a plot of land in Ngogwe, Nkokonjeru and Buwooya trading centres cost less than Shs3m but currently goes for about Shs10m.
“This is a benefit to residents selling land,” the district boss adds.
According to Mr Moses Mpagi, a resident of Nkokonjeru Town Council, a plot of land in the area that used to cost Shs8m, is selling at more than Shs15m.
Mr Kigongo explains that the new road has brought drastic development in trading centres, with most of them having new and well-planned buildings.

Ms Milly Kinaalwa, the female councillor representing Nkokonjeru, Ssi-Bukunja and Ngogwe sub-counties in Buikwe, says residents, who were compensated for the land where the new road is being constructed, have used the money to set up permanent structures, giving the area a new look.
“What was once a remote Bukunja area has transformed into a modern one where people are yearning to live,” Ms Kinaalwa says.
Mr Kigongo also says travellers to and fro Kampala can now move at any time since there are many taxis that ply the route.

“The tarmacking of the road to Kiyindi Landing Site on the shores of Lake Victoria improved the quality of fish being sold on the market since it is faster to transport it. There has been a boost in tourism on the island district of Buvuma,” Mr John Kato, an elder at Kiyindi Landing Site, says
Mr Sam Male, a commuter taxi driver who plies the Nkokonjeru-Kampala route, says he initially spent more than two hours on the road because of the potholes but now says he spends about one hour.
Additionally, he says he incurs less costs on repairs and fuel.

Improved income
Mukono District chairperson Andrew Ssenyonga says with the increased traffic on the road, residents have started setting up small businesses such as fruit and food stalls along the road, which has improved their household income. Mr Ssenyonga, however, urges Unra to compensate all project affected persons (PAPs).
Some residents also complain that heavy machines that were used to construct the road damaged their houses.
“The cracks in the walls of our houses were brought about as a result of the heavy machines that are being used by the contractor. Some of their [contractor] workers asked for money from us so that they can help work on the houses but up to now, nothing has happened,” Ms Nuru Nalubega, a resident of Bugolumbe Village, says.

However, Mr Livingston Ssenkatuka, the public relations officer of Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), the road contractor, refutes allegations that their workers demanded money from residents, saying it is the duty of the contractor to repair all the houses that developed cracks.
“By next week [this week], houses covered under the first phase will be renovated because all the necessary paper work is done,” Mr Ssenkatuka says.

Mr Ssali says most of the affected people had been paid through a consultant hired by Unra.
However, Mr Ssali says 50 per cent of those compensated complained that their property was undervalued, prompting the Unra land acquisition team to carry out fresh evaluation.
“The PAPs complained about undervaluation. The new land acquisition team at Unra proceeded to compile a report to address the issues. The PAPs were verified and the payment process was initiated and at the moment, we are waiting for funds so that we can pay them,” he says.

Compensation queries
Some residents have been waiting for compensation since 2011 when evaluation of property was first conducted.
On August 17, 2016, some residents staged a demonstration, protesting delayed compensation by government. The residents, who marched through Katosi Town with placards demanding to be paid, also hurled insults at the workers on the road.
Mr Ssali urges PAPs to remain calm as government processes their payments. He appeals to residents to safeguard the road signs so that they are not stolen by scrap dealers.

PAST CONTROVERSY OVER THE ROAD
How it started. The 74km Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi-Nyenga road connects the towns of Mukono, Kyetume, and Katosi in Mukono District to Nkokonjeru and Nyenga in Buikwe District.
President Museveni commissioned the road works on July 7, 2014 and the project was expected to last three years. The contract was first awarded to Eutaw Company but it was later cancelled by the Inspectorate of Government after allegations sprang up that Eutaw was a phony company and that the contract procurement process had been mismanaged.

In the process, government went into another agreement with Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) to complete the road at Shs110b in addition to Shs165b, which had earlier been earmarked for the project. The new contractor was also given additional road sections, which were not originally included in the Eutaw contract. These new road sections include tarmacking access roads to Katosi Landing Site and another connecting to Buikwe District headquarters. Additional road sections are Nyenga-Njeru road, measuring about 10kms, which connects to the Source of the Nile Bridge.

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