Uganda protests to China over struggling Chinese road contractors

KAMPALA – Uganda has protested to China over the poor performance of some Chinese companies contracted to build its roads. The government says their financial problems are delaying the delivery of key infrastructure projects.

The Minister of Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, raised the concerns with China’s Ambassador to Uganda, Wu Guangrong, when the ambassador paid him a courtesy call at the ministry headquarters in Kampala. He asked the envoy to intervene.

Byamukama said Uganda had benefited from the expertise of the many Chinese contractors that have built infrastructure in the country. However, he said some of them had recently run into implementation challenges, particularly financial constraints and cash-flow difficulties. He asked Wu to take an interest in the affected companies and help resolve their problems.

“I wouldn’t wish to see any Chinese contract terminated. Let’s address the challenges and expedite the completion of the delayed projects,” Byamukama said.

The minister singled out Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO). He said the company was struggling to complete the 21-kilometre Kyaliwajjala–Kira–Matugga road despite having received part of its payment.

He said the same company had also made slow progress on the 89.5-kilometre Masaka–Kyotera–Mutukula road.

Wu said the embassy understood the ministry’s concerns and had urged the company to take appropriate action.

“The company informed me that it is making every effort to secure the necessary funding and remains hopeful that its financial difficulties can be resolved,” Wu said.

He said Chinese enterprises remained confident in Uganda’s development prospects and committed to long-term investment in the country.

The meeting follows a 90-day ultimatum Byamukama gave CICO in August to show visible progress on the Masaka–Kyotera–Mutukula road or lose the contract. During an inspection of the road on 1 August, the minister said the government would make no payments to the contractor until there was visible progress on the ground, and directed it to begin laying asphalt, Daily Monitor reported.

The highway links Masaka to the Tanzanian border at Mutukula. It is being reconstructed at a cost of about Shs692 billion under a pre-financing arrangement, in which the contractor funds the works and the government pays later. Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja launched the works in Kyotera in March 2024. The project was expected to take 40 months, but only 23 per cent of the work had been completed by August, according to Daily Monitor.

At the time, site engineers told the minister they did not have enough money to speed up the works because of delayed remittances from the government. They also blamed the war in the Middle East for disrupting deliveries of construction materials.

Works on the Kira–Matugga road began in January 2021. During an inspection in August, Byamukama said progress remained below expectations even though the contract had been extended to July 2027, according to a ministry statement. He said the government had honoured its financial obligations to the project and attributed part of the delay to land acquisition and compensation. He directed the contractor to substantially complete the Kyaliwajjala–Kira section by December 2026 and said no further extension would be granted.

Wu took up his post in Kampala in August, succeeding Zhang Lizhong.