WHY WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT KCCA ROADS

Last week Kampala Capital city Authority (KKCA) boss Dorothy Kisaka announced plans to pave roads around Kampala, a project that would cost $288m (one trillion shillings).

Her political boss Mayor Erias Lukwago quickly jumped into the fray accusing KCCA of overinflating the cost of the project which by his calculation the 69km of road earmarked would cost sh14b a km to build. For a long time we have known that to build a kilometer of road costs about a million dollars or about sh4b.

KCCA are yet to respond to their boss.

The need for a functioning road network cannot be overemphasized especially in the capital.

"Speaking from personal experience without traffic I whiz to work in less than 15 minutes without pressing the accelerator to the floor. This is a far cry from 15 years ago where I would have to navigate badly rutted roads for most of the way to work. My productivity has increased as I can do more as I do not have to stay too long on the road....

I am not alone. Sine the paving of the roads in our leafy suburb, businesses have sprouted along the roads, real estate development a little off the paved roads is on steroids and generally it’s a more pleasant place to live – we are not chocking on dust and any number of pestilences that come with it.

As a driver of economic growth and subsequent development, improved infrastructure is critical. As shown above it improves productivity and efficiency and opens up new avenues for economic activity where there was none before.

It would help even more if KCCA could decongest our roads via the use of more organized public transport – bus and rail and the introduction of tolls for people wanting to drive into the city. But that is a story for another day.

At a basic level transport infrastructure links the producers to the market. The better the infrastructure the more the potential of the producers can be actualized.

I remember years ago that matooke used to ripen on the tree in one village in now Sheema district because the rains had made the murram roads impassable. As soon as the road quality improved the economic fortunes of the farmers improved exponentially.

No lesser an authority than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have made the connection between the speed of traffic on roads and poverty.

"In a graphic of the world published last year, the IMF showed that the countries with the slowest roads are also the poorest in the world....

Surprise! Surprise! 

But the fastest roads – where mean speed ranges were 91 – 110 kph were in north America, Western Europe, Australia, Singapore and Japan. In Africa only Morocco and South Africa made the cut.

On a recent visit to South Africa distances the equivalent of Kampala to Jinja were being done in under 45 mins, thanks to express ways, as opposed to double that time here. The quality of the cars also had something to do with it. That time differential has serious economic implications.

It is no surprise that Kampala is the economic hub of the country given its concentration of road network, about 3.5km of paved road per kilometer squared as opposed to the national average of 0.02 km per kilometer squared. Is it any wonder that by some calculations Kampala’s GDP per capita is ten times the national $850 figure.

So that is why we should care about KCCA’s plans for the road network. Lukwago’s allegations should be taken seriously to the extent that over priced contracts mean we build fewer roads.

That aside it was worrying that KCCA reported their budget for maintenance of the roads was way below requirements and hence the proliferation of port holes on Kampala roads.

"Laying down tarmac all over the place if we can not maintain it is not a very prudent way of carrying out public affairs. You spend more on building roads than if you had just maintained existing roads in good time. Of course, the increased expenditure is an attraction for certain types.

We forget but Kampala, especially its suburbs are a better place to be than 15 to 20 years ago. That is a double-edged sword for KCCA as our expectations have been elevated not only in the places that have been paved but those who wait in anxious hope for the coming of tarmac in the other suburbs.

You know what hey say? When you give them an inch they take a mile.

KCCA and government by extension, need to pay attention. While the near-term benefit is to placate Kampala’s chattering masses the long-term benefit is increased and improved economic activity, more revenues for the treasury to build and maintain more roads. QED!

PS Since this column was published in the New Vision KCCA boss Dorothy Kisaka has explained that allegations of overinflation on road costs were misplaced as the costs have been explained and various stakeholders including the KCCA political leadership have signed off on the process that begun in 2016.