UgandaToday: Deplorable Roads Expose Uganda’s Infrastructure Crisis as Kyagulanyi Campaigns in Kitagwenda
By Uganda Today Reporter
Kitagwenda District — A photograph taken from the presidential campaign trail of National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu evidently captures the state of Uganda’s road network: deep gullies slicing through an earth road, vehicles stuck or inching forward, and campaign aides forced to disembark and navigate on foot. The scene, Kyagulanyi says, is not an exception—it is the everyday reality for millions of Ugandans.
After what he described as a “bumpy drive through impassable remote roads,” Kyagulanyi told supporters in Kitagwenda that the conditions they endured are emblematic of a broader national failure. “The regime officials brag about the gains they are protecting,” he said, “and you wonder if this abject poverty is part of these.”
Rural and Urban Roads in Ruin
While rural districts like Kitagwenda bear the brunt of neglected feeder roads, similar scenes increasingly play out in urban centres. Pothole-riddled streets, washed-away culverts, and chronically delayed repairs disrupt commerce, inflate transport costs, and endanger lives in cities and towns across the country. Motorists and traders alike report longer travel times, vehicle damage, and rising prices passed on to consumers.
Kyagulanyi argues that the decay is not due to lack of resources, but mismanagement and corruption that siphon funds away from public works.
The Cost of Corruption
Kyagulanyi cited estimates that Uganda loses as much as UGX 10 trillion annually to endemic corruption—resources he says would be sufficient to overhaul the country’s road infrastructure if properly accounted for and invested. NUP maintains that these losses undermine development priorities, leaving communities isolated and economies constrained.
“Ten trillion shillings lost every year could transform our roads,” Kyagulanyi said, vowing that a future NUP government would place anti-corruption efforts at the centre of governance and redirect recovered funds into infrastructure nationwide.
A Campaign Message on the Ground
The image from Kitagwenda—vehicles halted by erosion and campaigners navigating mud and trenches—has become a visual shorthand for the opposition’s message: that development claims ring hollow when basic mobility collapses. Supporters say the lived experience of traveling the country’s roads underscores the urgency of reform.
As the 2026 race gathers momentum, infrastructure—and the question of how public money is used—appears set to remain a defining issue on the campaign trail.
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