District leadership have summoned senior managers of Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO) to explain delays on the 12.17-kilometre Bukasa–Ssentema–Kakiri Road project under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP).
The meeting, scheduled for Thursday next week at CICO’s site camp in Lukwanga, follows a recent site inspection that found limited progress since the previous monitoring visit involving the state minister for Kampala, Hon. Kabuye Kyofatogabye.
Kiwanuka Achilles, Wakiso District focal person for GKMA-UDP, said CICO must account for the slow progress and present firm commitments towards completing the project by the contractual deadline of November 2, 2026.
He noted that CICO had previously committed to accelerating construction by increasing its workforce and extending working hours to maximise the available dry-season window. However, with 83 percent of the project period already elapsed, concerns remain over the contractor’s ability to meet the deadline.
The district will therefore require CICO’s senior management to submit written commitments and a clear recovery plan detailing how the remaining works will be accelerated.
Eng. Sseguya Nasir, representing the District Engineer, said the poorest performance had been recorded on swamp sections, particularly around Kilometres 5 and 7, where works had reportedly not commenced. Slow progress was also reported around Kilometre 11 and other sections.
The project is currently about five percent behind schedule, despite 63 percent of contract payments having been made. The district also raised concern over the limited availability of construction equipment at critical sections, with questions raised over whether some machinery had been deployed to CICO projects elsewhere in the country.
Resident Engineer Eng. Simon Peter Odoch of AARVEE Associates Architects, Engineers and Consultants Pvt. Ltd., the supervising consultant, said CICO’s Country Director had already been directed to expedite works and increase the mobilisation of equipment, personnel and work fronts in line with the approved programme.
He noted that the June–August 2026 dry season provides a critical opportunity for the contractor to accelerate construction, particularly on sections affected by challenging ground conditions.
The district is now expected to press CICO’s senior management for a concrete recovery strategy, increased mobilisation and firm assurances that the 12.17-kilometre road will be completed by November 2, 2026.