KCCA unveils city plans for next six months

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has set a list of projects to accomplish in six months to improve the city’s cleanliness and infrastructure.

However, one of the bottlenecks to these plans is the funding deficits.
For instance, the ongoing infrastructural projects such as roads, signalling of junctions and upgrading of drainage channels are funded by World Bank under the second phase of the Kampala Institutional and Infrastructural Project (KIIDP-2).

Even in the set plans for 2019, which were unveiled by the acting KCCA executive director, Mr Andrew Mubiru Kitaka, last week, the biggest funding will come from donors.

The KCCA budget has in recent years suffered cuts despite pleas by technocrats to raise the funding to Shs1 trillion since Kampala is the base of the country’s economy.

The authority is running on a budget of Shs477.62b this financial year and its 2019/20 budget has been slashed, suggesting harder financial times ahead.

However, according to the recent budget circular from the Ministry of Finance, government has allocated Shs382.52b as the total budget for KCCA in the next financial year to execute its mandate.

This implies that for the set plans for this year to come to fruition, KCCA must minimise expenditures and identify priorities.

Improving transport infrastructure
According to the plan, whose copy Daily Monitor has seen, within the next six months, KCCA will carry out road works, street lighting, waste management, revenue administration and economic empowerment of the city dwellers.

The city authority will also construct five roads under KIIDP-2. These include Kulambiro Ring Road and its extension, Nakawa-Ntinda Road in Nakawa Division, John Babiha Road (Acacia in Kololo) in Central Division, Kabusu-Bunamwaya Road in Rubaga Division and Lukuli Road in Makindye Division.
KCCA says upon completion, these projects will enhance connectivity and mobility on the city road network.

Under KIIDP-2, KCCA has upgraded at least 210km of roads to Bitumen and maintained about 500km of gravel roads, leaving about 1,600km of city roads unpaved.

KCCA took over a road network of 1,200km in 2011 but when a new road inventory was conducted in 2015, it was established the city had a total road network of 2,110km.

At least 4,988 streetlights of which 1,560 are solar-powered have been installed since 2011 and in the last one year, KCCA reconstructed 13km of community drainages.
According to the 2019 development plan, KCCA will also construct and upgrade 300km of secondary and connecting roads with $250m funding from the UK Export Finance Facility under the Department for International Development (DIFD).

Additionally, with funding from the Uganda Road Fund (URF), KCCA will renovate the Old Taxi Park and Usafi Taxi Park in Kisenyi-Mengo and carry out pothole sealing.

KCCA also plans to do sectional repairs and beautification of roads, paving walkways on major roadsides across all the city’s five divisions as well as renovate vital junctions.

The roads and junctions for sectional repairs are Binaisa Road and Mulago junctions, Bandali Rise junction with Luthuli Village (Village Mall access), Fifth Street, Port Bell Road, Masaka Road drainage, rehabilitation of Salaama roads and accesses, restoration of Nateete junction traffic lights and upgrading Nanfumbambi and George Sserwadda roads.

Others are road marking for street parking bays, construction of walkways in the Central Business District (CBD) on roads such as Kimathi Avenue, Sir Apollo Kaggwa, Parliament Avenue, Siad Barre, Nile Avenue and Kampala and Jinja road.
There will also be junction improvements at Mawanda, Sir Apollo Kaggwa and Kyadondo roads.

Drainage channels
The city authority will also carry out a diagnostic study and modelling for the Nakivubo drainage system to address the chronic flooding at Clock Tower, Fire Brigade office and Nsambya Gapco areas which are vulnerable spots for rain floods.

At least 200 open manholes in the city will be covered with composite perforated covers.

According to the plan, there will be procurement for the remaining construction works on St Denis Nakinyuguzi and Kabaluka in Makindye and Sebanja, Kimera, Nabunya and Nabulagala in Rubaga.

KCCA also intends to construct 5.9km of drainage in Central and Nakawa divisions. The drainages include Kitamanyagamba and Law Development Centre (LDC) channels in Central Division and Kasana Valley, Savannah, Muweesi and Bugolobi and UBC Link channels in Nakawa Division.

Under the same plan, there will be designing, modelling and contract supervision of Nakamiro and Lubigi drainage channels.

The first phase of Lubigi channel was constructed by Spencon Services to prevent flooding in Bwaise suburb in Kawempe Division but it is constantly clogged with silt and polythene paper waste which causes backflow of water.

The second phase of Lubigi channel of 2.5km stretches from Bwaise to Hoima Road. In the next six months, this will be expanded from Bwaise to Kawaala using the drainage corridor of about 40 metres. The channel will, thereafter, be widened to about 100 metres to Hoima Road.

The entire Lubigi channel constitutes 12.55km of the main channel and more than 20km of the secondary channels spreading through Nakawa, Kawempe, Central and Rubaga divisions.

Lubigi forms an irregular semi-circle, starting around Kisaasi to the north of the city, stretching westwards through Bwaise and Kawaala and southward through Busega covering 42km.

The swamp also has several feeder arms from the surrounding areas. The Kampala Northern Bypass and Bwaise slum sit in the Lubigi wetland.

Nakamiro primary channel (3.2km) with an average width of seven metres will be expanded and lined with concrete from Kazo Angola to Lubigi.

City street lighting
Mr Kitaka says KCCA will repair all non-functioning street lights and roads.
Daily Monitor understands that at least 900 solar lights were installed on several roads and KCCA’s 2018/19 budget indicates they cost Shs400m.

The street lights are fitted with cameras to mitigate crime in the city and have capacity to provide light for three days when fully charged.

Last year, Mr Peter Kaujju, KCCA director of public and corporate affairs said they were determined to install street solar lights on all city roads, but were short of funds.

“We chose to shift from LED bulbs to solar lights because they are more durable and sustainable. However, we still have LED bulbs on some streets and roads because we don’t have money to cover the entire city at once,” Mr Kaujju said.

City attractiveness
Under physical planning, KCCA will implement the mud and dust elimination campaign that began last year.

According to the plan, the key focus will be on landscaping available road verges in the city centre roads, upscale paving and frontage maintenance and campaign for walkways and commercial properties.

Others include regulating landscaping and storm water management on private properties, providing soft landscape and tree planting for residential plots and support community tree planting.
Gender, community development and production
This directorate is mandated to empower and facilitate communities, particularly vulnerable groups, to realise their potential for purposeful and sustainable development.

For that purpose, KCCA will construct Kasubi market in Rubaga for 1,300 vendors. The vendors have been operating in a road reserve. Last year, KCCA bought land on Hoima Road to accommodate the market and construction works have already begun.

Mr Kitaka said KCCA will fill the empty stalls in Usafi Market and renovate and equip Kabalagala Youth Centre. At least 159 youth livelihood projects in crafts, poultry and trading will also be funded with 25 youth groups benefiting in Kawempe, 42 in Rubaga, 15 in Central, 42 in Nakawa and 35 in Makindye.

KCCA received $5m (about Shs18b) from Unicef to benefit 1,500 adolescent girls in Kampala city.

Mr Kitaka said the support will prevent the girls from dropping out of school and support those who have already dropped out with income-generating projects.

Solid waste
The city authority also seeks to intensify collection of solid waste in the city and extension of Kiteezi landfill.

At least 22,000 tonnes of solid waste are generated from the city’s five divisions daily. Out of these, KCCA is supposed to collect 1,000 tonnes while the service providers are required to collect 1,200 tonnes daily.

However, KCCA can collect only 470 tonnes, leaving 530 tonnes uncollected. Also, KCCA has 15 trucks only contrary to about 50 trucks required to effectively collect garbage.

Mr Kitaka said KCCA will continue lobbying both government and partners for funding for waste management.
He said the construction works on the Dundu landfill in Mukono District will commence this year. The current city’s landfill at Kitezi has filled up.

Education and social services
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) plans to commission completed nine classroom blocks and a biogas toilet at Kansanga Seed Secondary School which were built with funding from InterAid.

Mr Andrew Kitaka, the KCCA acting executive director, said the authority will also refurbish the administration block at Nakivubo Blue Primary School and replace the asbestos roof at the school and Makerere University Primary School.

To promote tourism in the city, Mr Kitaka says, KCCA will this year partner with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to construct two monuments of the Impala and the Gorilla, and complete the tourism information centre in the Jubilee gardens at Sheraton.

Mr Kitaka pledged to increase KCCA’s revenue base through sensitisation and ensuring transparency and added that they will focus on property tax. Property tax is the biggest contributor to KCCA’s revenue basket.
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