Eronda
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- Dec 16, 2025
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President Museveni has identified traffic congestion and Uganda’s heavy reliance on road transport as major constraints on business, saying transport inefficiencies cost the country an estimated $1 billion annually.
Speaking during Uganda’s 64th Independence Day celebrations, held virtually from State House, Entebbe, on October 9, Museveni said expanding railway, petroleum pipeline and water transport would ease pressure on highways and make Ugandan goods more competitive.
“One of the gaps we shall have to deal with is the transport system, now it’s akatogo, the traffic jam,” he said, using a local term for a mixture to describe the congestion.
Museveni said increased vehicle ownership, combined with the movement of heavy cargo, petroleum products and passengers on the same roads, had strained the transport network.
For businesses, these bottlenecks mean longer delivery times, higher fuel expenses and less predictable supply chains.
Moving bulk freight onto railways and petroleum products through pipelines could reduce the number of heavy trucks competing with passenger vehicles for road space.The President said Uganda was working with Kenya on petroleum pipeline infrastructure to reduce reliance on fuel tankers.
The proposed extension of Kenya’s petroleum products pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala forms part of wider bilateral transport plans that also include railway connections and improvements to the Nairobi–Kampala highway.
The Uganda Investment Authority says the projects are intended to accelerate the movement of goods and people between the two countries.
Museveni also cited rehabilitation of the existing metre-gauge railway and development of the Standard Gauge Railway as central to an integrated transport system.
The African Development Bank announced a $301 million financing package for rehabilitation of the Kampala–Malaba metre-gauge railway.
The route forms part of the Northern Corridor linking landlocked Uganda and neighbouring markets to Kenya’s port of Mombasa.
Uganda’s planned Kampala–Malaba SGR connection is intended to link with Kenya’s railway network, providing another route for cargo moving between the coast and Uganda. Its regional benefits depend on connecting infrastructure on both sides of the border.
Museveni said railway expansion would also reach western Uganda and the mineral-rich Karamoja sub-region, where he cited deposits of marble, limestone and gold.
Such connections could support the movement of bulky minerals and industrial inputs, helping factories reduce transport expenses and locate production closer to raw materials.
He also highlighted improved water transport as part of the effort to distribute freight and passenger traffic across several modes rather than concentrate it on roads.
While shifting cargo to rail, pipelines and waterways could relieve highway pressure, urban congestion also requires reliable passenger transport. Commuters would still need efficient connections between homes, workplaces and transport terminals.
Museveni placed the transport agenda within Uganda’s broader industrialisation ambitions, saying the economy had expanded from approximately $3.9 billion in 1986 to $69.3 billion.
He said lowering logistics costs would facilitate trade, support value addition and improve the competitiveness of locally produced commodities.
source: chimp reports
