By Joseph Kiggundu
The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) has awarded a Shs10.3 billion contract for the construction of 86 kilometres of roads within the Kabalega Industrial Park (KIP) to National Enterprise Corporation (NEC).
Kabalega Industrial Park, situated in the Albertine oil region is central to Uganda’s oil and gas sector.
The industrial park is critical to the country’s plans to build local refining and value-addition capacity around its petroleum resources. Making road access is one of the essential infrastructure needed for the sector to thrive. Without reliable roads, movement of heavy equipment, materials and personnel into the park would remain a major bottleneck for both the refinery project and other planned developments.
UNOC Chief Executive Officer Proscovia Nabbanja pressed both parties on execution standards, urging the teams to prioritise quality and safety
“Uphold quality, safety and accountability throughout implementation,” Nabbanja said.
Her remarks reflect UNOC’s broader role as the state entity charged with managing government interests across Uganda’s oil and gas sector.
The emphasis on accountability also comes against a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of public infrastructure contracts in Uganda, where cost overruns and delays affected many projects.
NEC, the commercial and engineering arm of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), has increasingly positioned itself as a contractor of choice for state infrastructure projects, part of a wider government push to channel public works to domestic firms under its local content agenda.
Handing NEC the KIP roads contract fits that pattern, reinforcing the corporation’s growing footprint in road construction beyond its traditional defence engineering work.
NEC Managing Director Lt. Gen. James Mugira said the corporation is prepared to begin immediately.
“Ready to mobilise immediately and deliver the works to the required standards,” Mugira said, describing the project as another step in strengthening local content and national development.
His comments tie the contract to Uganda’s local content policy for the oil and gas sector, which requires that a share of goods and services along the petroleum value chain be sourced from Ugandan companies.
Uganda Economic Reports
Awarding a road works package of this scale to a domestic, state-linked firm rather than an international contractor is likely to be cited by government as evidence of the local content policy translating into practice, even as questions persist about whether enough contracts have been awarded to local firms to deliver oil-sector infrastructure.
The 86-kilometre road network will serve as the backbone of internal connectivity within Kabalega Industrial Park, linking different zones of the park and supporting development activities.