Wakiso to get Shs1 trillion World Bank funds

Wakiso District is set to get a lion’s share of the $608 million (about Shs2.25 trillion) World Bank project for improving infrastructure in Kampala Metropolitan Area.

Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, the State minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, told this publication in an interview that Wakiso is expected to get 50 percent of the funding.

Mr Kyofatogabye said 85 percent of the World Bank money will be spent on roads estimated to cost $517 million (about Shs1.9 trillion) and 50 million (Shs184.4m) will be directed to the drainage systems and the remaining balance will be spent on markets and other developments.

“Money will be coming in phases and in the first phase, priority will be given to roads. We want to work on all roads that link to highways within Kampala Metropolitan. And according to our analysis, Wakiso District has the biggest number of poor roads,’’ he said in an interview over the weekend.

Wakiso has a road network of more than 3,000kms. 

“The only way to stimulate development as well as decongesting the main roads connecting to the city centre is to upgrade most of the marram roads to bitumen standards,’’  the minister said.

He noted that Parliament passed the project in Financial Year 2023/2024 budget and they are in the final stages of approving the funds. 

“This programme is scheduled to commence on July 1,’’ he said.

Mr Samuel Mwesigwa, the engineer of Wakiso District, said they have 536 kilometres roads of which 30 percent will be considered under the World Bank project.

“The criteria to be considered for the road project is that every local council is required to bring their road designs and present them to us and we approve,” he said

By September, Mr Mwesigwa said contractors will have signed an agreement and by January next year, the construction works will kick start.

“The roads are expected to be completed between 24 and 36 months. Of the 615kms, a total of 335kms will be considered in the first phase,” he said.

Under the same project, four markets in Wakiso, including Kawuku Daily Market, Wakiso Town Council Market, Kyengera Market, and Bulaga Market are expected to be constructed.

Initially, some politicians in the area were against KMA-UDP thinking it was intended to take away their political roles.

Ms Betty Ethel Naluyima, the Wakiso District Woman MP, asked residents to cooperate with the contractors.

“I request our people to embrace the project and give in their land willingly. There is no money for compensation,’’ she said. 

The World Bank project, which is under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area-Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP), is coordinated by the Parliamentary Committee on National Economy and will focus on mobility, accessibility and connectivity, infrastructure development, signalisation of junctions, workspace, and job creation, and institutional strengthening.

ABOUT WAKISO
Wakiso, which became a district in 2000 after being carved out of Mpigi District, is currently Uganda’s most densely –populated district with two million people, as per the 2014 national census.

Available data from the district’s engineering department reveals that only 10 percent of the roads are in good shape while 90 percent require regular maintenance and rehabilitation.