Kampala city traffic control centre commissioned

4 September 2025, 11:55 am

Byamukama Alozious

Kampala’s modern traffic management center, supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has been commissioned to start operations. The center, which cost approximately $24 million (about Shs 47 billion) and took 30 months to set up, will monitor and manage traffic across 30 intersections in the city.

According to the Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Hajjat Sharifah Buzeki, the center will harness the power of technology to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago added that the city has been plagued by traffic jams, and this center will help alleviate the problem. Lukwago noted that currently, it takes about 4 minutes to drive just 1 kilometer to reach the city center, and he hopes the new center will help reduce this time to at least 3 minutes.

Equipped with advanced technologies, including camera monitoring, traffic lights, and detectors, the center will provide real-time data and insights on traffic patterns. This will enable authorities to respond quickly to incidents, reduce congestion, and improve road safety.

The 2024 road safety report highlights the need for such interventions, with Kampala recording a concerning rate of 10 fatalities per 1,000 people in road crashes, and crashes increasing by 20%. The new traffic management center is expected to help address these challenges.