Uganda’s military chief and Chief of Defence Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has escalated his hardline rhetoric on Kampala’s crumbling infrastructure, declaring that the entire budget for roads in the capital city will now fall under his direct control and warning contractors that shoddy work will attract severe consequences.
In a strongly worded statement posted on X on Tuesday, Gen Muhoozi said he would personally determine who builds and repairs roads in Kampala, signalling what could become one of the most dramatic shifts in the management of the city’s infrastructure in recent years.
“I shall say one more thing today. The entire budget for roads in Kampala will be under my control (CDF). I will determine who builds and repairs roads,” Muhoozi wrote.
“If I see a pothole after we have paid for construction of a road, that contractor will pay with his head,” he added, in remarks that immediately triggered debate across political and social circles.
The outspoken general further blamed Kampala’s chronic flooding and deteriorating road network on decades of corruption and poor leadership, taking direct aim at long-serving city politicians.
“Floods in Kampala have been caused by 40 years of corruption in the city. We had idiots like Lukwago for 25 years! That is changing now. UPDF is taking charge,” he posted.
The remarks appear to confirm growing military influence over Kampala’s infrastructure management, with the Uganda People’s Defence Forces increasingly becoming visible in road rehabilitation projects and urban works within the capital.
Over the past three years, Gen Muhoozi has repeatedly toured damaged roads in Kampala and inspected ongoing rehabilitation works in the central business district.
His latest declaration comes against the backdrop of mounting public anger over the appalling state of roads in Kampala, where potholes, abandoned roadworks, blocked drainage channels and severe flooding have become part of daily life for commuters.
Several roads across the city have become nearly impassable during heavy rains, with flooding repeatedly cutting off major transport corridors including sections of Ggaba Road, Bwaise, Clock Tower, Kinawataka and parts of the central business district. Recent heavy rains in April this year again left motorists stranded after floods submerged roads in areas such as Bunga along Ggaba Road.
For years, Kampala residents have complained about what many describe as endless cycles of road construction, inflated contracts and poor workmanship that leave roads damaged only months after completion.
Investigations and reports over the years have pointed to corruption, procurement irregularities and contractor failures as key factors behind the city’s infrastructure crisis. A 2023 report highlighted allegations of corruption cartels frustrating efforts to revamp Kampala’s road network despite billions of shillings injected into infrastructure projects under the Kampala Institutional and Infrastructure Development Project (KIIDP).
The report described roads riddled with potholes even after rehabilitation works, raising serious questions about quality control and accountability within city authorities.
Public frustration over potholes in Kampala has at times exploded into viral citizen campaigns. One such movement, dubbed the “Kampala Pothole Exhibition,” gained widespread traction online after activists and residents began posting images and videos exposing the dangerous state of roads across the city.
The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has previously acknowledged the scale of the crisis, blaming delays in road construction on corruption, bureaucracy and funding gaps.
KCCA has also struggled to contain flooding in low-lying areas of the city, warning that poor waste disposal, encroachment on drainage channels and rapid urbanisation have worsened the problem.
Muhoozi’s comments are likely to intensify debate over the expanding role of the military in civilian governance and public infrastructure management.
In recent months, discussions have emerged within government circles about giving the military broader oversight over infrastructure projects amid concerns about corruption and stalled works. A recent commentary described proposals for Muhoozi to oversee road contracts as a “defining moment” in Uganda’s governance debate, with supporters portraying it as decisive leadership while critics warned about the growing concentration of power.
Supporters of the move argue that military-style supervision could restore discipline, speed and accountability in road construction projects that have long been plagued by inefficiency and alleged theft of public funds.
Critics, however, say the remarks raise serious governance concerns, particularly the suggestion that contractors could “pay with their head” over poor workmanship, language many interpreted as extreme even if figurative.
Still, among many frustrated Kampala residents, the message appeared to resonate strongly.
For years, motorists have endured vehicle damage, traffic jams and dangerous driving conditions caused by massive potholes that often remain unattended for months. Some roads have repeatedly been patched only to deteriorate again within weeks, fuelling accusations that certain contractors deliberately perform substandard work to secure endless repair contracts.
The latest intervention by Gen Muhoozi now signals what could become a major restructuring of how Kampala’s roads are financed, supervised and executed.
Whether the military-led approach will finally deliver the modern roads and drainage systems long promised to residents remains to be seen, but one thing is clear — Kampala’s road crisis has now moved from being merely an urban management issue to a central political and military matter at the highest level of government.
