Ugandan Experts are warning that unless the government adopts a deliberate approach to solving the flood problem in the country’s capital city, torrent-related devastation costing lives and billions of shillings, will continue to intensify. They say the country needs to move away from the current haphazard and business-as-usual approach to a more deliberate and radical one; involving policy shifts, introducing innovative engineering solutions and strict enforcement of environment protection laws.
Kampala City has suffered battering from the increasingly violent and destructive flood waters that have in the recent past killed people, destroyed properties and lashed businesses. Recent meteorological forecasts released by the Ministry of Water & Environment said more rains are expected in the coming months.
Eng. Apollo Buregyeya, a PhD civil engineering, innovator and lecturer at Makerere University’s College of Engineering, Design Art & Technology (CEDAT) told The Infrastructure Magazine that to deal a blow on flooding, the government needs a combination of urban planning policy shifts, adoption of tested engineering solutions and enunciation of a strict regime of adherence to environmental laws.
Ivan Odongo, a consultant Natural Resources and Geographical Information System (GIS) Analyst with Tenvincon, a Kampala based environment consulting firm, warned that “if no action is taken, flood risks in greater Kampala are projected to increase by 180 per cent by 2040,” quoting a report on land use management to reduce flooding in greater Kampala, published by laserpulse.org.
In an interview with The Infrastructure Magazine, Odongo said there are four key drivers of environmental degradation responsible for flooding and related hazards in Kampala, that need to be mitigated.
The first, he said, was wetland encroachment. “Kampala has lost significant portions of its wetlands due to unscrupulous real estate and industrial development. Several factories in Kampala have been constructed on wetlands. The country’s wetland coverage declined from 15.5 per cent in 1994 to 8.9 per cent in 2017 with only 8.9 per cent of the remaining wetland area still intact,” he said, quoting data from the laserpulse.org – a research network that brought together universities like Makerere (Uganda), Purdue (US), Indiana (US) Notre Dame (US), among other institutions.
The second one is deforestation. Odongo said that green spaces have reduced in Kampala over the last two decades – with very little tree cover left in the city.
The third driver is pollution and poor waste management. He said Kampala City generates approximately 2000 metric tonnes of waste everyday but only 40 per cent is collected. The 60 per cent is directed into drainage channels, dustbin boxes and others remain as litters, clogging drainage hence flooding.
The fourth is climate change. “Increased rainfall intensity due to climate change has worsened flooding and environmental stress,” he explained.
Douglas Muwanguzi Kamoga, a physical planner and urban development expert with Urban Scape Design Associates said “the problem with flooding in Kampala is not just an infrastructure issue, it is more critically a spatial planning failure. Infrastructure alone cannot solve the problem if it is not guided by proper land-use planning and environmental management.”
As far as infrastructure is concerned, Kamoga argued that Kampala was originally designed with natural floodplains, such as Lubigi, Kinawataka, and Kansanga wetlands, that acted as buffers during heavy rains. However, unregulated urban expansion has led to their destruction, reducing the city’s ability to absorb and direct excess water.
He said there is also the problem of uncoordinated infrastructure development. “Major roads such as the Kampala Northern Bypass and the Entebbe Expressway were constructed through wetland areas without sufficient drainage considerations. This has worsened flooding, as water that would naturally be absorbed by wetlands is now displaced onto roads and residential areas.”
He also pointed to drainage channels that are often clogged with garbage due to inadequate waste collection services, illegal dumping, and weak enforcement of sanitation regulations. “This blocks water flow and increases flood risk,” he stressed.
He said inadequate and outdated drainage infrastructure with many parts of Kampala still relying on colonial-era drainage systems that have neither been re-designed nor maintained to handle the growing urban population and changing climate patterns.
Frank Muramuzi, Executive Director of National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) argued that Kampala’s flooding and environmental challenges are as a result of negligence by the responsible authorities.
“It’s negligence of government agencies including KCCA (Kampala Capital City Authority). I don’t see any reason why they cannot open those channels that take water into the swamps,” he wondered. He adds that due to negligence, roads are poorly planned, wetland encroachment is rampant and old trees that cannot withstand weather are left unattended.”
Balaam Barugahara, the state minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development demands accountability from stakeholders. “The current floods in Kyambogo, Banda, Luzira, Nakivubo, Kalerwe, Lubigi, Munyonyo, Ggaba Area, and Bugolobi Swamp are a wake-up call. We must address environmental degradation to prevent future disasters,” he said.
Barugahara said the “massive investments (by government) in road upgrades are being undermined by flooding. Let’s uphold the law and prevent powerful (people) from encroaching on wetlands and drainage channels. No one should be above the law.”
Cost of floods
Apart from lost lives, Odongo puts Kampala’s economic loses to floods and other environmental degradation related challenges at US$50 million (about Ushs190 billion) annually – quoting a June 2023 UNDP report entitled, Community Solutions to Kampala’s Flooding Challenge.
In the financial year 2024/25, the Government allocated KCCA a budget of UShs 211billion (US$60 million) – half of its required UShs 400billion (US130million). This means that KCCA loses the equivalent of half its annual budget to environment related disasters.
Call for Action
According to Eng. Buregyeya, the Government needs a comprehensive urban planning reforms that must prohibit construction in wetlands and flood-prone areas through stringent zoning regulations and robust enforcement.
“Consistent investment in modern and regularly maintained drainage infrastructure is essential, underpinned by clear accountability frameworks,” he said, adding, “adopting an integrated flood risk management policy including advanced weather monitoring, flood sensors, and real-time analytics would significantly enhance early-warning systems and responsiveness.”
He advised that decentralizing decision-making authority and resources to local government units and technical experts would allow timely, context-specific interventions, reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Alongside those efforts, environmental conservation policies must prioritize the restoration and preservation of wetlands and marshlands like those in Lwera and Masaka, enhancing natural flood-control mechanisms, he said.
He opined that implementing sustainable funding mechanisms such as public-private partnerships and dedicated municipal flood-control funds would secure long-term financial commitment and institutional capacity.
“Collectively, these targeted policy measures will transition Kampala from crisis-driven management towards proactive resilience, reducing both the incidence and severity of flooding,” he said.
Flood resilient infrastructure is the hope
According to Kamoga, Climate-resilient infrastructure is not only achievable but necessary. However, it requires a fundamental shift in planning, investment, and policy enforcement.
The key characteristics are for the infrastructure to be resilient, adaptable and reliable. In other words, Kampala’s infrastructure must be designed and built to withstand extreme weather events, efficiently modified without much waste to adapt to changing climate conditions over time and ensure the continued functioning of essential services like water supply, sanitation, transportation, and energy in the event of natural disaster like floods.
He says adaptable drainage systems is required; many cities worldwide are upgrading their drainage to modular, expandable designs that can handle increasing rainfall intensities due to climate change. Kampala must follow suit. To this day in many road construction projects, the city authority still uses outdated, inefficient culverts.
The urban planner adds that flood-resilient road design in flood-prone areas should be elevated with permeable pavements and proper embankments.
Workable solutions
Eng. Buregyeya explains that for starters, Uganda doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel as there there are low hanging fruit engineering solutions available. The adoption of permeable pavements and green infrastructure, such as rain gardens, bioswales, and retention/detention basins, can greatly enhance water infiltration and significantly reduce runoff at relatively low costs.
Deploying modular drainage solutions (including prefabricated culverts and precast concrete channels), he said, provides rapid installation, affordability, and scalability to expand drainage networks quickly.
Besides, technologies for real-time flood monitoring systems using sensors and drone technology offer affordable, timely data collection, improving early-warning capabilities and response coordination, should be adopted. Furthermore, embracing geospatial mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can support informed planning, better predict flood-prone areas, and prioritize infrastructure investments effectively.
“Low-cost waste recycling and composting initiatives could substantially reduce landfill dependency and mitigate solid-waste-related flooding, as we saw in the Kiteezi disaster,” he said.
“Encouraging community-based flood management practices, including simple stormwater harvesting tanks, sandbagging techniques, and routine drainage maintenance by residents, can significantly improve resilience at minimal cost. Collectively, these engineering solutions represent feasible, affordable, and immediately deployable strategies to strengthen Kampala’s urban resilience and infrastructure sustainability.”
Lessons from elsewhere
The “Sponge City” concept, successfully pioneered by China, represents an integrated urban planning strategy designed to absorb, store, and manage stormwater effectively, according to Dr. Eng. Buregyeya. It combines permeable surfaces, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and urban forests to significantly reduce flooding risks and improve water quality. Given Kampala’s frequent floods, adopting elements of this approach presents an attractive and practical opportunity. Uganda could rapidly pilot aspects of the Sponge City model, such as permeable pavements, rainwater harvesting systems, and localized retention ponds, which require modest initial investment and can deliver immediate impact.
Eng. Buregyeya also cites Rotterdam-Netherlands that has excelled in flood resilience by adopting floating architecture, water plazas, and extensive underground stormwater storage, creatively integrating water management into urban planning.
Tokyo-Japan, constructed the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, a large-scale underground facility efficiently diverting flood waters away from densely populated areas.
In Copenhagen-Denmark, “cloudburst streets” have been designed. These are special roads and green spaces which channel heavy rainfall directly to retention areas, significantly reducing urban flooding. Singapore effectively uses multifunctional green roofs and vertical gardens, minimizing stormwater runoff and promoting sustainable drainage systems. Curitiba, Brazil, has combined green corridors with artificial wetlands to enhance natural flood control, water purification, and biodiversity simultaneously.
Flooding in Kampala, Kamoga argues, is not just an infrastructure failure; it is a planning crisis. “Solutions exist but they require political commitment, enforcement of regulations, and investment in resilient urban design. The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of going for available knowledge and technologies.”
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