The Special Forces Command (SFC), a specialised regiment of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), has been ordered by President Museveni to seize control of the highways in Kampala City.
However, the SFC will collaborate with the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials. The SFC is an elite military unit entrusted with carrying out specific tasks or operations.
Nearly a month had passed since the First Son, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also a presidential adviser on special operations, had toured city roads with Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA, and promised to assist KCCA in filling potholes.
Most of the roads in Kampala are in terrible condition as a result of inadequate financing, delayed releases, years of neglect, and the problems of the rainy season. Every year, the KCCA needs roughly Sh800b to fix city roadways.
The majority of Kampala’s tarmac roads need to be rehabilitated due to their age. In Kampala, there are 2,100 km of roads, but only 600 km of them are paved; the remainder are made of dirt.
Outraged locals staged a “pothole exhibition” on Twitter to protest the bad condition of city roads and official inaction, compelling the government to take action.
The President’s latest order to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja is a direct reaction to the capital’s deteriorating road infrastructure.
The President gave SFC immediate instructions to take over the management of potholes without diving into the specifics of the new policy, such as resource mobilisation and how civilians intend to collaborate with the military to ensure accountability of the public finances.
This morning, Ms. Nabbanja is anticipated to call a high-level meeting at her Kampala office to relay the President’s instruction.
The meeting is likely to be attended by three ministers, including Ms. Minsa Kabanda (Kampala), Matia Kasaija (Finance), and Gen. Katumba Wamala (Works), as well as their permanent secretaries (PSs), the attorney general, and the head of the SFC Construction Brigade.
Executive directors from the KCCA, the Uganda National Roads Authority, the Uganda Road Fund, and representatives from the President’s office have also been called.
For the immediate repair of what he called the “famous potholes in Kampala City,” Mr. Museveni ordered Ms. Nabbanja to “cause relevant agencies of government to allow the KCCA to directly work with the SFC construction regiment.”
“The SFC construction regiment will do the work at a cost that is much lower than what the profit-seeking contractors would have done,” Mr Museveni said in the letter to the prime minister.
What Kampala needs, according to Ms. Kisaka, “is service delivery, an end to potholes.”
“Agencies can support one another since we are one government. The task cannot be completed in its entirety with the available funding. In an interview with the Daily Monitor yesterday, she said that more than 1,500 kilometres of Kampala’s streets still need to be paved and maintained regularly.
Recently, Ms. Kisaka blamed KCCA’s inability to fill the potholes on a lack of finance.
“These overly-potholed roads require complete demolition. So, we anticipate the help. Plotting who does what to give services to Kampala in accordance with the existing money is what needs to be done, she continued.
The change was hailed by Ms. Kisaka, who stated: “What Kampala needs is serLast night, Mr. Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Attorney General, confirmed that he had also gotten a copy of the letter and said that the directive will be carried out in accordance with the law.
The SFC spokesperson, Maj Jimmy Omara, stated on Wednesday: “I can guarantee you that we are ready,” he added. “We are going to repair and reconstruct all roads and work on bad drainage at a minimal cost. According to our engineers, the task is doable. The SFC’s job is not tough in any way.