A heated debate has emerged in Uganda following recent statements by Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba on Kampala’s road infrastructure, triggering a strong response from Uganda Law Society (ULS) President Isaac Ssemakadde.
Muhoozi, in a series of posts on X, claimed control over the capital’s road budget and blamed decades of corruption for the city’s poor infrastructure.
He said the military would take charge of road works, linking the move to his anti-corruption drive and promising improved roads and drainage systems.
He attributed Kampala’s persistent flooding and deteriorating roads to what he described as “40 years of corruption,” presenting the intervention as a necessary step to fix long-standing failures.
But Ssemakadde has pushed back, questioning both the timing and credibility of the general’s claims.
He argued that Uganda’s infrastructure challenges cannot be divorced from decades of leadership under the same system.
“Ugandans have lived with potholes, flooding, corruption in procurement, and collapsing infrastructure for decades. This crisis did not begin yesterday,” he said.
The ULS president raised concerns about accountability, asking who has been responsible for overseeing institutions, managing public funds, and implementing infrastructure projects over the years.
“The real question is: who has been in charge all along?” he posed.
Ssemakadde criticised what he described as an attempt to recast long-standing leadership as an outsider force stepping in to solve problems.
“You cannot preside over a system for years and then rebrand yourself as the angry outsider coming to save the same people from failures produced under your watch,” he said.
He also warned against the increasing involvement of the military in civilian functions, particularly in urban management and infrastructure development.
According to him, such interventions risk undermining established legal frameworks and institutions.
“Ugandans deserve functioning roads, but they also deserve honest leadership, institutional accountability, and solutions grounded in law, not dramatic threats and militarised declarations,” he added.
The exchange has intensified scrutiny over governance and accountability in Uganda, especially regarding the management of public resources and service delivery in Kampala.