In December 2019, (about four years ago), Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President, Retired Colonel Dr Kizza Besigye claimed that the commissioned Kampala-Entebbe expressway in Uganda is the costliest in terms of cost per kilometre in the world.

Speaking at his Kasangati home while addressing media over Christmas, Dr Besigye said that the expressway linking the Kampala central business point and the Entebbe International Airport cost Ugandans $9.2 million per kilometre, four times more than the average cost of $2 million thus driving up the total cost of the project to $476 million.

So how true is Dr Besigye’s claim that Uganda’s Entebbe expressway is the costliest in the world per kilometre?

According to a World Bank publication titled “The Cost of Road Infrastructure in Low and Middle-Income Countries”, the average cost per kilometre for the development of a new four-lane expressway should be US$2,838,562 per kilometre while that of a new four-lane highway is quoted as US$2,195,810.

This report grouped road works into two major types, i.e. development for new works and preservation for additional works on already existing roads.

According to this same report, the most expensive development work type was a new six-lane expressway followed by a four-lane expressway, while for preservation works the most expensive work type was concrete pavement restoration followed by strengthening.

Critics like Dr Besigye claimed that the average cost per kilometre is US$2 million per kilometre which corresponds with the cost per kilometre of a four-lane highway noted in the World Bank report making his claim TRUE.

The former FDC president also stated that there is a possibility that the Entebbe expressway is the costliest in the world in terms of cost per kilometre.

According to Kizza Besigye, the expressway linking Kampala with Entebbe cost four times more than the average for such a road

Is this True?

We investigated this claim and found it to be PLAUSIBLE due to the following reasons;

According to data from the same World Bank report above, the most expensive project was a four-lane expressway which cost US$7,810,495 per kilometre. This amount was based on 65 projects under study as tabulated below:

From the above, we can tell that the most expensive development works per kilometre for a new six-lane expressway cost US$5,571,488 per kilometre, a new four-lane expressway costs US$7,810,495 per kilometre while the most expensive four-lane highway costs US$4,561,035 per kilometre.

According to the Uganda National Roads Authority website (UNRA), the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway is a four-lane highway (2 lane dual carriageway) comprising two sections, the 37.23 km section from Busega to Entebbe International Airport of which 27 Km is limited access expressway and the 14.13 Km section from Kajjansi to Munyonyo through Lweza totalling up to 51.36 Km.

This, for US$476 million puts the cost per kilometre at US$9.27 million which is higher than the above-noted most expensive four-lane expressway at US$7,819,495 per kilometre.

This makes the Entebbe expressway the costliest among low to middle-income countries on which this data was based but does not confirm whether the same applies in other countries around the world, thus making Dr Besigye’s claim PLAUSIBLE.

More About Kampala Entebbe Expressway

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway (KEE) is a four-lane toll expressway under the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) linking Entebbe International Airport to Kampala the country’s capital city.

On 24th May 2021, UNRA handed over the 26.2KM expressway (including the 25 KM tollway section from Busega to Mpala and 1.2KM along the Munyonyo Spur Road) to Egis Road Operation to operate and maintain the expressway.