The Kampala–Masaka Road is a road in the Central Region of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, connecting the capital city of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

to the southwestern town of

Masaka Masaka is a city in the Central Region, Uganda, Buganda Region in Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. The city is the headquarters of Masaka District. Location Masaka is approximately to the south-west of Kampala on the highway to Mbarara. The ...

in Masaka District. The first of this road, is in the process of being developed into the Kampala–Mpigi Expressway.

Location

The road begins in the Kibuye neighborhood, in

Makindye Division Makindye Division is one of the five administrative divisions of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and the largest city in that country. The city's five divisions are: (a) Kampala Central Division (b) Kawempe Division (c) Lubaga Division (d) Maki ...

, southwestern Kampala. It continues to Busega, then through Kyengera, Nsangi, Mpigi and Lukaya, to end at

, a distance of approximately .

Overview

This road is one of the busiest in the country, with an average daily traffic count of 20,908 vehicles in 2008. In 2009, the

government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...

(GOU), began to upgrade the previously bitumen-surfaced road in poor state, to grade II bituminous surface with drainage channels, culverts and shoulders. The first phase of improvements began in 2009 and ended in 2011, fully funded by the GOU. The first phase cost US$44.8 million (about Sh103 billion). During the second phase of the road improvement, the road was widened from to , passing and climbing lanes were added as well as pedestrian and bicyclists' lanes. The work was contracted to Reynolds Construction Company, who had carried out he first phase. The second phase lasted from 2012 until 2013. Despite the improvements, the road remains one of the most accident-prone highways in the country.

Accidents

The Kampala–Masaka Road is the most accident-prone stretch of highway in Uganda, recording between 200 and 300 fatalities annually. Ugandan officials attribute the high accident rate to several factors including (a) speeding (b) failure to observe traffic signs (c) overloading of passenger vehicles (d) overloading of merchandise trucks (e) dilapidated vehicles (f) driving while intoxicated (g) lax laws against traffic offenses (h) a slow justice system.

Kibuye–Busega section

In October 2020, the

New Vision The ''New Vision'' is a Ugandan English-language daily newspaper. It was established in its current form in 1986 by the Government of Uganda. It is the flagship newspaper of the state-owned Vision Group, a multimedia conglomerate. Along with ...

newspaper reported that the

government of Japan The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive (government), executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary st ...

, through the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gr ...

(JICA), was evaluating the financing of the section from Kubuye to Busega, where this road intersects with the Entebbe–Kampala Expressway and the

Kampala Northern Bypass Highway The Kampala Northern Bypass Highway, often referred to as the Northern Bypass, is a road in Uganda. It forms a semicircle across the northern suburbs of Kampala, Uganda's capital city, capital and largest city. The road was constructed to reliev ...

. It is envisaged to construct an elevated dual-carriage highway for the entire length of this section. Preliminary estimates have put the cost of this section of urban highway at about US$500 million.

References

External links