Hoima Road construction boosts flood control and climate change mitigation

15 December 2025, 8:55 pm

By Ronald Ssemagonja

In many parts of the country, heavy downpours often lead to flooding of buildings and compounds due to blocked drainage channels that are meant to carry away storm water. As a result, communities experience outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and cholera, among others.

It is against this background that the Government of Uganda, together with its development partners, embarked on the construction and rehabilitation of roads in various parts of the country to address flooding and related challenges. One of these projects is the ongoing rehabilitation of Hoima Road, where residents have come out to share what the project means to them.

Katongole Collins, a businessman who owns a football viewing hall popular among young people, says the area has for a long time suffered from the negative effects of climate change, especially during heavy rains. His hall broadcasts major football matches including the StarTimes Uganda Premier League, the English Premier League, La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League.

“My name is Katongole Collins, also known as Collins Lisbon. We broadcast various football games here. For a long time, whenever it rained heavily, we experienced serious challenges caused by climate change,” he explained. “There is a hill around Lubya and the National Housing area, and whenever it rains, a lot of water used to flow directly into people’s houses and compounds. However, with the ongoing construction of Hoima Road, we are thankful to the government because we believe such challenges will be reduced.”

Katongole adds that he has closely followed the road works and observed significant improvements in the drainage system. He noted that the contractors removed old and narrow culverts, carried out deep excavation on both sides of the road, and installed larger culverts capable of containing large volumes of water.

“I have been following the works keenly, and I have seen that they removed the old small culverts and replaced them with bigger ones after deep excavation of the drainage channels. I am confident this will help protect us from climate change-related diseases such as malaria,” he said.

He also appealed to the government to ensure proper maintenance of roads after construction and to consider installing street lights. “What destroys our roads is lack of maintenance. We ask the government to take responsibility for maintaining these roads and providing lighting,” he said.

Katongole further called upon members of the public to play their part by avoiding dumping garbage into drainage channels. “When drainage channels are blocked, it is us who suffer the consequences,” he warned.

Meanwhile, environmental activist Dickens echoed similar concerns and continued to encourage parents to engage their children in tree planting activities as one of the long-term solutions to environmental degradation and climate change.