At least 27 major road and bridge projects across Uganda have either stalled or significantly slowed down due to a severe government funding shortfall, Minister of Works and Transport Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala has told Parliament.
Presenting a statement on the state of roads on Wednesday, 30 July 2025, Gen. Katumba attributed the crisis to delayed payments and land acquisition challenges. Affected projects include key oil roads such as Masindi–Biiso and Kabale–Kiziranfumbi, the Kampala–Mpigi Expressway, and the Kampala–Jinja Highway.
“As of July 2025, 27 projects have been affected, 18 funded entirely by the Government of Uganda, where contractors have either suspended or slowed down works due to delayed payments, and nine externally financed, affected by the government’s failure to provide timely counterpart funding,” he said.
The Ministry of Works faces a funding shortfall of Shs2.472 trillion in the 2025/2026 financial year, having received only Shs682 billion out of the required Shs3.153 trillion. Additionally, the government is burdened with Shs1.071 trillion in arrears from previous years, attracting commercial interest and cost claims from contractors.
Compounding the crisis is a Shs443 billion gap for land compensation, which has stalled several externally funded projects due to lack of access to construction sites.
“The cumulative effect of these suspensions and delays includes low project absorption, rising financial claims, risk of asset deterioration, and reputational damage,” Katumba said.
Uganda’s road infrastructure is deteriorating rapidly, the minister warned, with 1,993 kilometers requiring urgent periodic maintenance and 260 kilometers needing full rehabilitation. “Failure to act will result in roads degrading to a point where rehabilitation, costing about Shs2.59 billion per kilometer becomes necessary, potentially causing a preventable fiscal loss of up to Shs180 billion,” he added.
Gen. Katumba called for urgent financial intervention, citing the critical role of road infrastructure in driving economic growth, regional integration, and service delivery.
However, Parliament could not hold a substantive debate on the matter after it emerged that no ministers from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development were present to respond to funding concerns.
Government Chief Whip Hon. Hamson Obua said the finance ministers were away on official duties, prompting Speaker Anita Among to hold him accountable.
“That is your role as Government Chief Whip to ensure ministers are in the House. This is not up for debate. Whip, we shall hold you accountable,” the Speaker said.
Debate on the statement was deferred to Tuesday, 05 August 2025.
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