The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has launched a comprehensive study to establish standard unit costs for infrastructure development, a move aimed at harmonising road construction prices and curbing the escalating cost of public projects in Uganda.
The initiative was revealed by PPDA Executive Director Benson Turamye on January 21, 2026, while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Finance to present the Authority’s 2026/27 National Budget Framework Paper.
Turamye told legislators that Parliament had appropriated funds in the 2025/26 financial year to enable PPDA conduct a detailed assessment of unit costs for roads and bridges, following persistent concerns over wide pricing disparities in public works contracts.
“This financial year, you gave us money to conduct a study on infrastructure unit costs for roads and bridges. The engineering team is already working on it, and before the end of the financial year, we shall come up with a framework on standard unit costs, particularly focusing on roads and bridges,” Turamye said.
His remarks followed concerns raised by Members of Parliament over significant variations in unit costs quoted by contractors for similar projects implemented by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
MPs warned that such inconsistencies have created loopholes for corruption, inflated contract prices and poor value for money in public procurement.
Under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, PPDA is mandated to regulate and oversee public procurement processes, promote fairness and transparency, and ensure value for money. However, legislators argued that the absence of enforceable reference pricing for infrastructure has undermined these objectives.
Minister of State for Planning Amos Lugoloobi supported the concerns, disclosing that a recent analysis by the Ministry of Finance revealed glaring inconsistencies in road construction costs, including projects financed through external borrowing.
“When you look at roads for which we borrow money, the unit costs vary very significantly. You have one road here and another next door, yet the costs are completely different,” Lugoloobi said.
He questioned whether PPDA currently has adequate legal authority to regulate infrastructure pricing, suggesting the need for stronger statutory powers.
“This is where the procurement authority should really step in, but perhaps they lack the teeth. They need to be further empowered by the law. We should not reach a point where one road costs one million dollars per kilometre, another US$1.8 million, and yet another US$3 million. Those variations are worrying,” he added.
Lugoloobi called for policy and legislative interventions to establish a clear authority responsible for regulating infrastructure standards and prices, noting that some quoted costs defy justification.
However, Dickson Kateshumbwa (Sheema Municipality) criticised what he termed repeated expressions of concern without concrete policy action.
“The entity you are talking about is here, and even the Auditor General is present. Are you going to bring a Bill to address this? Because if we say something must be done, it must originate from you as policymakers,” Kateshumbwa said.
PPDA’s latest study comes against the backdrop of a long-delayed and controversial road construction cost study commissioned by the Ministry of Works and Transport.
In August 2019, the ministry contracted LEA Associates and Denmar Consulting (KOM Consult) at a cost of UGX 2.102 billion to establish benchmark unit costs for road construction.
Although the study was expected to be completed within nine months by May 2020, it was only concluded in June 2023 and tabled before Parliament in March 2024.
The Works Ministry report estimated the average cost of upgrading roads using asphalt concrete (AC) surfacing at US$1.266 million (about UGX 4.38 billion) per kilometre. Reconstruction works were estimated at about US$1.44 million (UGX 4.98 billion) per kilometre, while rehabilitation with AC surfacing was placed at approximately US$539,000 (UGX 1.86 billion) per kilometre.
However, Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) rejected the findings, faulting the study’s conclusion that road construction in Uganda is cheaper than in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Zambia.
Legislators argued that the comparison was questionable given that the cited countries rank better than Uganda on global corruption perception indices.
MPs maintained that without enforceable benchmarks and stronger regulatory oversight, inflated road construction costs would continue to undermine public trust and place further strain on the country’s already stretched public finances.
