Prime
Govt earmarks Shs200 billion to tarmac roads in Nansana
State minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Kabuye Kyofatogabye speaks during an engagement meeting for the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Physical Development Plan in Nansana Municipality on June 7, 2024. On his left is the map of the physical plan. Photo/Michael Agaba
What you need to know:
- Nansana Municipality mayor Regina Bakitte welcomed the project, saying the tarmacking of the roads in her area will improve interconnectivity.
The government has announced plans to tarmac about 50km of feeder roads in Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District, at a cost of about Shs200 billion.
This was revealed by the State minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, during an engagement meeting with Nansana Municipality leaders on June 7.
Mr Kyofatogabye said they will also build markets and improve drainage systems in different areas, particularly around River Mayanja, which always floods in the wet season, affecting traffic.
“The project is mainly aimed at improving connectivity and relieving the pressures on the main road and jam. Nansana Municipality, despite being a huge urban area, has no tarmacked roads and its problems are mainly roads, drainage systems and workspaces. All these are coming to Nansana,” he said.
“We are going to construct markets; three of them, and we are going to work on a drainage system around River Mayanja,” he added.
The roads are being constructed under the five-year Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP) funded by the World Bank intended to improve the infrastructure development and physical planning in Kampala, Mukono, Mpigi, and Wakiso.
The minister added that the government is completing the final negotiations with a contractor and computations for the project to start next year, and urged leaders to embrace it.
Ms Monica Edemachu Ejua, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, also revealed that the project is under the Greater Kampala master plan, which has taken about four years to develop.
However, she revealed that the programme was designed in such a way that there is no money for compensating project-affected persons. She asked leaders to hold community engagements with the affected people to enable them to appreciate it.
“This is a government programme. There is no way we are going to benefit from it if we don’t own it. So as this programme takes off, let’s take it as our own, let us go and mobilise the communities,” Ms Edemachu said.
She added that they have issued consent forms, which the residents affected by the projects are supposed to sign, approving the use of their land for works.
The minister also revealed that the disbursement for the project will start effective next year.
However, she warned that this is a performance-based programme and entities that don’t perform will lose funding to others that are effectively executing the programme.
Nansana Municipality mayor Regina Bakitte welcomed the project, saying the tarmacking of the roads in her area will improve interconnectivity.
“Nansana is one of the biggest municipalities in Uganda; it is a gateway to Hoima, Sudan and Mukono. So this interconnectivity will eliminate traffic jam,” she said.
Ms Bakitte also revealed that the project will reduce insecurity, generate more revenue for the municipality and create more jobs.
About the programme
The Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GMKA-UDP) seeks to implement the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Local Economic Development Strategy, which was endorsed by the Cabinet in March 2020.
The GMKA-UDP, valued at $566 million (Shs2.1 trillion), includes a mix of loans and grants, with $518 million allocated as a loan and $48 million as a grant. The programme will further be facilitated by a loan worth $42.66 million (Shs156.4 billion) from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD).
