Post-Conflict Neglect and Catch-Up
The Northern Region of Uganda endured decades of civil conflict (most notably with the LRA), which led to the massive destruction and breakdown of social and economic infrastructure, including roads.
While the rest of the country focused on development, the North was focused on peace and recovery. Even after the peace, the subsequent Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) had struggled with implementation, meaning infrastructure investment in the North lagged significantly behind other regions.
Systemic Financial and Management Issues (Ongoing)
- Inadequate Funding: There had been a consistent and significant funding shortfall for road maintenance across the country, with maintenance budgets often being neglected in favor of new, large-scale construction.
- Corruption and Inefficiency: Reports frequently cited issues like corruption in road contracts, which led to over-inflated costs, and poor quality of work (use of substandard materials) that resulted in roads failing prematurely.
- Delayed Payments and Arrears: The government often faced challenges with timely payments to contractors, which caused suspension or drastic slowing down ofworks, leading to project time and cost overruns. This meant that a road that should have taken two years to fix took much longer, leaving it in a state of disrepair for extended periods.
Environmental and Design Challenges
- Lack of Maintenance: Many of the “Northern Highway” roads were last worked on many years ago and have reached or exceeded their design life. Without routine, timely maintenance, they quickly degraded, especially under heavy traffic and extreme weather.
- Extreme Weather/Flooding: Poor or non-existent drainage systems (a major issue in many parts of Uganda) mean that heavy rains caused severe flooding that rapidly washed away road layers, created potholes, and damaged critical infrastructure like bridges. The temporary closure of critical links like the Karuma Bridge in recent years due to structural issues was an example of the severe impact of this cumulative neglect.
In short, the crisis “started” when the historical damage and neglect were met with continuous underfunding, poor planning, and management deficiencies, creating a compounding effect that resulted in the current “continuation” of the crisis.
The current continuation of the crisis
According to the follow up made on the Northern highway, infrastructure crisis continues.
The collapse of a major road section is still causing significant trade disruptions as repair work begins.
The critical section was on the Karuma–Kamdini highway (Gulu Highway), near the URA checkpoint that connects Central Uganda to the north.
The collapse occurred over the weekend (likely November 1-2, 2025), with disruptions that were continuing today, November 3, 2025.
Continuous heavy rainfall in the region caused an embankment failure, leading to the road surface giving way. This has made the section impassable for most traffic.
The Karuma–Kamdini road was a vital trade artery for commerce with South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The collapse forced heavy trucks and trailers to take a long detour via Olwiyo Trading Centre and Anaka, significantly increasing transport costs and delaying logistics. The Ministry of Works and Transport was prioritizing emergency repairs.
