In the evening of 29th Dec 2025, I met Traffic jam at a place called Mpambire around 40kms on Kamapala- Masaka road. I thought maybe there was an accident a few metres ahead that slowed us down. Oops, I didn’t know that I would leave the same spot 15 hours later. What a night never to forget? Initially, VIPs with lead cars still had their sirens on, a few ambulances also left their horns on to get access but within 30minutes, they knew they had hit a dead end. The whole road went into silent mode apart from a few trucks and buses that kept their engines on.
The losses associated with this traffic jam are huge. I know two poultry international companies that lost one day old chicks because of heat. One day old chicks-ODC are fragile and live birds hence require special handling. Movement of live animals and birds is highly fragile and that’s why they are never delayed. They are permitted to move from a point to another uninterrupted.
Fuso trucks carrying cows, pigs and goats were not spared either. These guys are counting huge losses. Animals are also fragile and any delay affects not only their lives but also affects the quality of meat in the butcher.
What could have been the possible cause of this traffic jam?
Earlier in the day, Number one principal of the nation-H.E. YK Museveni was in the areas of Mpigi and somehow the flow of traffic was interrupted to allow his movement. This would not have hugely affected the traffic flow. The uncivilized Ugandans who are impatient and inconsiderate when it comes to road discipline, chose to create three lanes to Kamapal and 3 lanes out of kamapala and ultimately, the two lane road was overwhelmed. Consequently, both directions came to a halt. The gridlock lasted over 16 hours
Traffic police were hitherto during the day been deployed around the political rallies that were in the same area. After work they retreated to their barracks and homes to catch a breath. The few who stayed were overwhelmed by the unruly, disorganized and ego-filled Ugandans. By 9pm, they also withdrew at least from where I was at that point. Without traffic officers on the road, and indscplined Ugandans, the traffic jam mayhem had to occur.
Evening rains. Kamapala and the surrounding areas, traffic jam is a cousin to rain. Every time it rains, expect a slow or even a packed traffic jam. In Mpigi, it rained from 7pm up to 4am when I was writing this article.
Many Ugandans were exiting villages back to city and the neighboring districts. There was un usual traffic flow into Kampala that would not need any form of interruption. President being in the area necessitated traffic regulation that included road closures ( temporary) diversions etc. this act coupled with already heavy traffic from the masaka and other western districts caused one of the worst traffic jams I have witnessed in the recent time.
Hon Kyagulanyi was on the same day in Kalungu district for campaigns. He also moves with a sizeable number of vehicles and Bida bodas. These too added on the weight to the already worse traffic jam situation.
Safety and security concerns.
The 29th Dec 2025 traffic jam on Kamapala-Mpigi- Masaka road was a very serious security and safety concern that requires high authorities review so that it should never happen again. Any terrorist attack would have killed thousands of Ugandans. This was a concentrated target. The traffic jam had a lot of fuel tankers, that could have burnt a number of vehicles with occupants. Even a normal incident of a car burning would have killed hundreds. Even fire bridgade teams would find challenges providing rescue services. It was a horrible experience.
Children, elderly, hypertensive, diabetic, ulcers patients suffered a lot. They missed their medicines, they suffered hanger, there were no places of convenience, pregnant women suffered nightmares, toddlers cried, aged people risked dying. This traffic jam was a severe safety and security bleach.
Did police cameras convey these live footages to command centre?
I am sure the highway cameras conveyed these live footages to command centre. Police should have deployed both short and tall- Abawanvu na bampi to handle this disaster. Team of 50 FFU personnel led by a few traffic officers would have handled this mess. Why did police officers sleep on this matter? Even Army from first division would have supported them. This once again takes us back as a country on how we respond to disasters. This traffic jam didn’t from now where fall in to place. It built up slowly until it became a dister of sorts. The CCTV infrastructure costed government billions of money and one way of leveraging on this investment is/was to solve such traffic jam problem before it become a national shame. Hopefully some people have reported to CID headquarters in Kibuli to detail what went wrong.
Kamapala- Mpigi express way and Mpigi- Nakawuka-kasenge road
If the above roads were already tarmacked or in good motorable conditions, maybe, traffic would have been diverted through these roads and reduce on the stress on the main highway. MOWT should up the game on these projects. Kasenge-Nakawuka-Mpigi road is so important road. Even before its tarmacked, the current feeder road should be well maintained to support the Kla-Mpigi traffic craze. Which is not the case. Personally I used the kassenge-Nakawuka-Mpigi kubikondo road but it was in a bad state.
Time as a cost.
Most Ugandans rarely see time as a cost in business. In fact it’s the most serious cost in business. Sand trucks, cargo trailers, Fuso trucks with matooke, irish etc lost time, truck owners need money, they are not bothered with how long the driver spent in traffic jam., they just count day and night. When a business man/woman losses money, the government ultimately lose a tax. Where there no taxes there is no development.n
Milk traders lost money since milk is perishable.
I expect cabinet, police PAC, all top commanders of security agencies to review this mess and find both quick fix and long-term solution. What happened on 29th Night and 30th Dec early morning was a security and transport disaster that ashamed the pearl of Africa. A journey from Mbarara to Kamapala that would take 4-5 hours took 16 hours and other more.
Who will compensate those that lost lives, milk, cows etc?
Lets protect the gains wholesomely.
The writer was trapped in the traffic jam for 16 hours
Samson Tinka
tindsam@yahoo.com
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