The 1.5km Mabira segment of the Kampala-Jinja highway has undergone maintenance, according to Works and Transport Minister Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala.
On January 6, 2025, Katumba made the comments while touring the restored area in the Buikwe district’s Najjembe sub-county.
He claims that a road team led by ministry engineers spent Sh480 million performing repairs to the Mabira section’s once-deteriorated road surface.
Reasons for the repair delay
According to Katumba, Energo, a road construction company hired to maintain the Kampala-Jinja highway, failed to perform its expected duties because the government was taking too long to pay them, which caused the road surface to deteriorate to the point where there were large potholes at the Mabira section.
“Energo did not move in to work on the section because of this delay, but I promise we will sort them out,” Katumba disclosed. “We owe Energo over Sh50b on regarding road works and maintenance they have done on various roads which were contracted to them in the country.”
He continued by saying that the ministry chose to acquire its road unit from Gereng on Entebbe Road after receiving multiple complaints from public road users. They then transported some of the equipment to Mabira, where they used it to work on the stretch.
He explained that because the road unit has finished the Mabira portion, they will use it to fix 18 other sections of the Gayaza-Kalagi road because they have the necessary people and experience until the main contractor arrives.
Repairs in Mabira
“The section is now strong, and vehicles are freely moving,” stated Eng. Moses Omunyokol, the ministry’s project/construction manager and team leader at the Mabira section. We anticipated finishing this project in three weeks, but there were several setbacks,” Omunyokol stated.
At the Buikwe district council, Kiwanuka Willy Mubiru, a councillor for the Najjembe division, asked Katumba to fix a massive hole by the road known as Ku Kigga. This hole has killed boda boda riders and caused cars to crash into the water stream that runs beneath the road.
“This hole has existed for five years, and barriers that were put in fell in,” Mubiru stated.
Stephen Sserubula, a member of parliament for the Lugazi Municipality, stated that although the 1.5-kilometer part in Mabira has been worked on, other areas, such as those at Lugalambo, Mbiko, and the area leading up to Najjembe market, still require attention due to their large potholes.
The Mabira part of the Kampala-Jinja highway is currently narrow, so he asked the government to widen it to three or four lanes.
But according to Katumba, the government lacks the funding to enlarge the road.
Regarding the ku kiggadeadly area, Katumba stated that guard rails or concrete barriers will be installed for safety until they prepare for the location with a larger project, and rumble strips will be installed right away to slow down traffic.
Concerning water transportation
According to Katumba, the government would purchase two additional vessels as part of an African Development Bank (ADB) project to maximize the need for water transportation and lessen traffic on the Kampala-Jinja route.
There will be fewer fuel tankers on the road because they have already certified two vessels that transport four million liters of petroleum on each voyage from Kisumu to Port Bell, he added.
