The government has announced plans to terminate the contract of Samcrete Egypt–Engineers and Contractors, the company undertaking the upgrade of the 8.4-kilometre Kabale–Lake Bunyonyi Road, after it allegedly abandoned the project.
The contractor was hired to upgrade the road to bitumen standard but suspended construction works without publicly explaining the reasons for the halt.
The planned termination was revealed on Wednesday during a plenary sitting of Parliament after Ndorwa West MP Hon. Eliab Naturinda Mporera raised concern over the stalled project. He noted that the road, launched by the government last year, was expected to boost tourism and business around Lake Bunyonyi.
Naturinda told Parliament that the contractor had withdrawn all construction equipment and materials from the site, leaving residents and tourism operators uncertain about the future of the project.
He said the delay has negatively affected businesses, tourism, and production activities along the Lake Bunyonyi tourism corridor and asked the Minister of Works and Transport to explain the status of the project.
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Responding to the concerns, the Minister of Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, confirmed that the contractor lacked the capacity to execute the project and said the government had begun the process of terminating the contract.
Byamukama revealed that the same contractor had also been awarded the contract to upgrade the 13.4-kilometre Kisoro–Mgahinga Road, which links Kisoro Town to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorillas.
He disclosed that technical officials from the ministry had advised the project’s financier, the African Development Bank (AfDB), against awarding the contracts to the company because of concerns over its capacity. However, the bank proceeded with the award despite those warnings.
The minister said investigations are underway to establish why the financier ignored the technical advice.
He assured Parliament that the contract would be terminated within the next few weeks and that the government would immediately begin procuring a new contractor to ensure the projects resume without further delay.
Byamukama added that he had already engaged officials from the African Development Bank and consulted the Minister of Finance to expedite the replacement process.
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The Kabale–Lake Bunyonyi Road and the Kisoro–Mgahinga Road are part of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s commitment to improve tourism infrastructure in the Kigezi sub-region.
The two road projects, valued at Shs112 billion and funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), were launched in June 2025 by Thomas Tayebwa, who represented President Museveni during the groundbreaking ceremony.
