Workers of the defunct Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and journalists at Karuma Bridge in 2024. PHOTO/ FILE
On Monday, the Works and Transport ministry reopened Karuma Bridge to both heavy and light vehicles after what officials called the “successful installation and curing of expansion joints.”
In March, the bridge, which was built in 1963 and connects Uganda to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was closed to all traffic to allow a collaborative effort between the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) and China Railway Seventh Group to install expansion decks.
“These are critical components that allow the bridge structure to expand and contract with temperature changes and traffic loads, thereby maintaining its structural integrity and expanding its lifespan,”Mr Allan Ssempebwa, a communications officer in the Works ministry, told Xinhua this week.
Some 30km from Karuma Bridge on the Karuma-Arua route, the Ayago Bridge is also undergoing rehabilitation courtesy of a joint effort between the Ugandan military and China Railway Seventh Group. The two bridges in question opened their gateways in the early 1960s as a parting gift from the British Colonial State.
They are joined by Pakwach Bridge, which links the West Nile Sub-region to the rest of Uganda, as part of the creaky transport infrastructure from the colonial era that could do with more than just a fresh coat of paint. The Jure Bridge in Yumbe District and Amua Bridge in Moyo District are barely operational. China Henan International Cooperation Group Limited (CHICO) was contracted to rehabilitate the bridge, with the Works ministry ring-fencing Shs13.5 billion for the same during the pandemic in 2020. And it is not just northern Uganda.
All four corners of the country have been adversely impacted. In Central Uganda, a flooding disaster in May 2023 caught the government unawares when Katonga Bridge, which became operational in 1965, was inundated. A Shs191.4 billion repair job overseen by China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) and expected to culminate in a new raised permanent pre-stressed concrete bridge is currently underway.
The flood-prone Kampala-Masaka Highway at Lwera and Kalandazi swamps also stands to be a beneficiary of the repair job. With a temporary steel bridge parallel to the old concrete bridge having been erected, CCCC expects to complete the repairs in July 2027. Currently, only motorists going to Masaka are allowed to use the bridge, while those from Masaka use the old bridge.
For nearly a year now, motorists from Kalungu connecting to Gomba use the Sembabule-Kisozi-Kifampa Road or Masaka-Kampala Highway and branch off from Kayabwe in Mpigi District, which makes the journey longer by more than 95kms. Kampala-Masaka Highway is one of the busiest roads in the country, with an average daily traffic count of about 30,000 vehicles, also serves as the main gateway to the DRC, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, handling major cargo to and fro.
Deep-seated problem
While the government is giving Katonga Bridge a new face, its promise to establish a new Kazinga Channel Bridge has not materialised for five years and counting. This is despite the refurbishment of the old bridge, built in 1954, having been completed in 2021. Just like the Karuma Bridge, the inner section of the bridge, which connects Rubirizi and Kasese districts, was demolished to allow the casting of foundation works to support the new concrete works. It was closed for four months to allow the works before its reopening to the public.
Elsewhere, the Kafu bridges built in the 1960s and located on River Kafu both in Hoima and Masindi districts are among the transport infrastructures due for rehabilitation. Pressure on the already fatigued structures has, in recent times, heightened as marked by increased incidents of flooding. The River Kafu Bridge on the Hoima-Kyankwanzi-Kampala Road, situated about 18km from Hoima City and located on River Kafu, which separates the districts of Hoima and Kyankwanzi, attracted a travel advisory in November of 2023. This was after it was flooded and submerged.
The long-term solution proffered by the government involved either raising the road or constructing a new bridge. No repairs have been undertaken on both roads. Over in Fort Portal City, Mpanga Bridge, a key crossing on River Mpanga, that was constructed in the 1950s, looks way past its sell-by date. The bridge’s concrete side, which acts as a guard, has begun to develop cracks, exacerbating concerns about its structural integrity. To alleviate congestion on the bridge, a temporary wooden bridge was erected in the early 2000s. About 20 metres away, the bridge is solely for foot traffic and was erected to mitigate the risks of road crashes.
Fort Portal City and Kabarole District officials say they are prioritising the construction of an eastern bypass. The bypass will connect the Kyenjojo-Fort Portal Road to the Fort Portal-Kasese Road. This, officials told Saturday Monitor, will alleviate traffic congestion within Fort Portal City. Construction works on the bypass are, however, yet to commence.
New infrastructure
It is not all doom and gloom, though. In the past eight years, the government has built several new bridges as well as refurbished a few of the colonial bridges. The iconic Jinja Bridge—seated on the River Nile and with an expected life span of 120 years—was commissioned in October 2018. It is, in many respects, the jewel in the crown. Spanning 525 metres in length and dubbed The Source of the Nile Bridge, the bridge cost the Government of Uganda (GoU) $112 million (Shs408.1 billion).
The government secured a loan from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the project that was undertaken by Zenitaka Corporation from Japan and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company from South Korea. The signature beauty of the gigantic concrete and steel structure is its 72 harp-like white cables. They connect the bridge deck to two 69-metre tall inverted-Y pylon towers. The Jinja Bridge is not a lone ranger by any stretch of imagination.
The new Paraa Bridge inside the Murchison Falls National Park is just as imposing. With the calming waters of the River Nile and the sight of Nile crocodiles down the bridge, it is sure to lighten up your day. Above all, the new bridge has eased transport along the route. This was especially the case between September of 2024 and early April of 2025 when repairs on Karuma Dam were ongoing.
In January 2021, President Museveni commissioned the new Isimba Bridge that connects Kayunga and Kamuli districts across the River Nile. The structure was constructed by China International Water and Electric Corporation, which also took on the reins as the 183MW Isimba Dam was shooting up. The bridge is part of the Shs2.1 trillion 183MW Isimba Hydro Power Project constructed using a loan from the China Export-Import Bank (85 percent) and the Government of Uganda (15 percent). In August 2022, a new multi-billion Nyara Bridge on the Nyara River was commissioned at Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Terego District.
The $2.4 million (Shs8.8 billion) bridge jointly funded by Japan and Uganda’s Works ministry has turned into a game changer for refugees and nationals to transact among themselves and the neighbouring sub-counties and districts. It is also established that the construction of Muyembe-Nakapiripirit Road (spanning 92 kilometres), connecting eastern and northeastern Uganda, will be a source of good tidings.
Already, its completion has enabled the establishment of the Chepsukunya Bridge. The bridge was established a year after the completion of a new Ntungu Bridge on Rukungiri-Kihihi-Ishasha/Kanungu Road after the old one deteriorated and was subsequently condemned. The Shs400 billion Muyembe-Nakapiripirit Road project, crossing through Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve, is said to have cut the previous journey from five hours down to one and a half hours.
Arrested development
Earlier, in 2020, the government, through the now defunct Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), rolled out a comprehensive plant to construct 27 bridges. This, state actors reasoned, was intended to ease transport. It also came against the backdrop of a 2013 research that spotlighted the need to replace up to 106 bridges across the country. Of these, 68 bridges were deemed to be in critical condition and consequently desirous of immediate rehabilitation.
The bridges are found in the districts of Kampala, Manafwa, Arua, Malaba and parts of western and south Uganda. The construction work was to be categorised into six batches, starting with Leresi Rigid Pavement, Kia-kia Bridge and Lugogo Swamp Bridge in batch one; Dunga, Mahoma, Mpanga, Nabuswa Nyabuswa and Perepa in batch two.
Elsewhere, Nabukhaya, Nambola, Nametsimeri, Ukha, Sahana, Khamitsaru and Rubongi are in batch three; Rwembyo, Kajwenge, Kamira, Nyakambu, Maziba and Kiruruma in batch four; and Malaba-2, Malaba-3, Okane and Halukada and Koch, Osu and Odrua in batch five. While the works were supposed to kick off in April of 2021, with Shs203 billion set aside to complete the works in 36 months, 90 percent of works under this intervention are not yet done.
At the commissioning of Isimba Bridge, President Museveni promised that the government was also completing works on key bridges across the Nile like Karuma, Pabbo, Masindi, Pakwach, Laropi, and Paraa bridges. However, only Paraa bridges have since been completed and commissioned. In October 2023, Unra and security agencies temporarily blocked the Sezibwa Bridge after it identified surface defects on it, the same period the procurement process for the construction of the 510-metre long Masindi Port Bridge kicked off. Structural assessment and designs were conducted for the two bridges. However, no work has been done on them.
Govt response
Mr Musa Ecweru, the junior Works minister, was unavailable for a comment by press time. Mr Tonny Awany, the vice chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure, however told this publication that the government can ill afford glossing over the deteriorating state of colonial and post-colonial bridges. Inroads, he however added, are being made.
“For Pakwach Bridge, the technical design is complete and it is meant to cater [to] both the road and the railway as well as solve the problem of flooding around Tangi River, which has washed away the road section and the railway line near the bridge,” Mr Awany said. “The procurement for Laropi Bridge is in progress just like Masindi Port Bridge to be built with funding from the Islamic Development Bank, these major infrastructure projects will be a game changer to development in the north,” he added.
Regarding bridge infrastructure in east and western Uganda, Mr Awany noted that the peculiar weather pattern and climate in those regions have disadvantaged the government; floods and landslides keep knocking down bridges.
“The case of Semuliki Bridge and the Kafu bridges presents us a unique challenge, the recent climate patterns have resulted in abnormal flooding in these areas but also in the Rwenzori region, landslides have knocked down several such infrastructure on record,” he said.
