MUKONO | District leaders in Mukono have given contractor JEFFLEN Industrial Solutions Ltd until Monday to present a detailed recovery plan for the delayed rehabilitation of the 2.1-kilometre Matumbwe Swamp Crossing–Jjimbi Road, a project that has become a stark local example of Uganda’s wider road infrastructure struggles.
The directive followed a joint site inspection in Seeta-Namuganga Sub-county on Friday, led by Resident District Commissioner Hajjat Fatuma Ndisaba Nabitaka, LCV Chairperson Hon. Francis Lukooya Mukoome, Chief Administrative Officer Henry Ddamba, and Acting District Engineer Herbert Lutwama. The Shs1.2 billion works, intended to ease movement between Seeta-Namuganga and neighbouring areas, have progressed little since the contract began in May, with residents reporting flooded, impassable conditions that disrupt trade, school travel and access to services during rains.
Chairperson Lukooya Mukoome expressed frustration that the project remains stalled five months in while other works advance. “Contractors entrusted with public funds must deliver timely services. We cannot accept delegates who lack decision-making power; the contractor must personally appear and outline how lost time will be recovered,” he said, demanding a comprehensive work plan by Monday. RDC Ndisaba Nabitaka criticised the lack of direct engagement with local authorities and noted that Ministry of Works and Transport funding for the section remains inadequate for its scope.
Ministry representative Eng. Sharot Nabasa attributed initial delays to late supply of metal culverts and challenges sourcing local murram, with formal commencement only in July. Site engineer Benjamin Michael Webooya cited heavy rainfall, while assuring that machinery is on site. Acting District Engineer Lutwama rejected the explanations, stating culvert installation should already be complete. Councillor Margaret Musanje said communities expected finished infrastructure rather than repeated excuses. LC II Chairperson Kyakuwa Dauson welcomed the oversight and warned against misuse of funds meant to improve rural livelihoods.
To ease immediate hardship, RDC Ndisaba ordered the engineering team to clear soil heaps blocking drainage and create a temporary pedestrian crossing. CAO Ddamba assured residents that local revenue is protected, with no payments to be made without technical assessment and written approval from the District Engineer.
The Mukono standoff mirrors a national pattern. In mid-2025, Works and Transport Minister Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala informed Parliament that a Shs2.472 trillion funding shortfall in the 2025/26 financial year had stalled or slowed 27 major road and bridge projects—18 government-funded ones due to delayed contractor payments and nine externally financed ones held up by counterpart funding and land acquisition shortfalls. Uganda’s road network of roughly 21,292 kilometres includes about 6,300 kilometres paved and nearly 15,000 unpaved, with thousands of kilometres already requiring urgent maintenance or rehabilitation. Auditor General reports have flagged dozens of multi-trillion-shilling projects behind schedule or suspended, citing contractor capacity, design changes, arrears and weak oversight.
President Museveni has repeatedly pledged improved feeder and alternative roads around Greater Kampala, including links that reduce pressure on the capital, yet rural and peri-urban connectors like Matumbwe continue to lag. Delayed projects raise costs through claims and interest, erode asset value, and hit traders, farmers and households with higher transport expenses and lost income—precisely the burdens now visible in Seeta-Namuganga.
Local leaders’ insistence on personal contractor accountability and strict payment controls reflects growing pressure for better supervision of public funds. Whether the Monday deadline produces tangible progress or escalates toward contract termination will test both district resolve and the Ministry of Works’ ability to enforce delivery amid chronic national funding and capacity constraints. For residents counting daily losses, the outcome matters far beyond one swamp crossing.
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