Uganda’s Northern Bypass Faces Challenges

The construction of Uganda’s Northern Bypass continues to face a number of challenges resulting in lengthy delays and additional costs. To date the project has been running for 15 years despite only consisting of a 23km stretch.

Chief among the challenges has been the process of land acquisition, with several related court cases in action. While the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) has projected a July 2021 completion date, this represents a four-year over-run on initial projections for the second phase of the project, which involved its expansion into a four-lane highway. The initial cost for the second phase was estimated at Shs285 billion but has risen to around Shs448 billion.

 The first phase of the project also overran by almost five years. Once plans were set out the price of land in the area quickly rose making it more difficult for the authorities to purchase the necessary land. Whether the project can now meet its 2021 completion date will depend in part on the speed of the courts in resolving the outstanding land cases.

The idea behind the bypass was to serve as a ring road to be used to drive outside the central business district. It is part of the northern corridor infrastructure development programme of the East African Community (EAC) that hops to lower the cost of doing business in the region through improved infrastructure and decreased transportation times.