The government intends to start contracting private companies or individual to construct or maintain roads and then later recruit their investment through levying a fee on users of the road through road tolls. This is one of the proposed amendments included in the Road Amendment Bill 2017 which the Cabinet has approved and is due to be tabled before the Parliament. “The private sector will operate that road and the toll that is paid will be used to pay back to the operator the finances that they have put in and at the same time to maintain that road.” Said, Monica Azuba Ntege – Minister of Works. However, the Minister of Works Monica Azuba has revealed that the government will be mandated by law to provide alternative roads in areas that have road tolls. “There has to be another alternative road for people who may not be capable of paying the toll that will be specified along the tolled road.”

In the 1990s Uganda had road tolls at Lukaya along Kampala Masaka Highway and at Mbiiko along Jinja Kampala Highway among others. The Bill, if passed into law, will also set stringent penalties for road offenses. for example, those found overloading beyond 500 kilograms will be charged 90 dollars for 320,000 shillings and those that overload beyond 31 tons will be charged 148,000 dollars approximately 541 million shillings. Azuba says these figures were agreed upon by all East African countries. “Before they would send you to Court but right now we have provided for express penalties so that the transporter does not have to go to Court but will pay the express penalty.”

The new Bill also gives the owner of a broken down vehicle 6 hours within which to remove it from the road or else it will be towed away by the Police and a fine will be imposed. The Bill also seeks to increase the size of road reserves from 15 to 40 meters. “What we have been having being the road reserve of 15 meters from the center line of the road but the Bill now is providing for up to 40 meters of road reserve from the center.” We sought out the views of Ugandans on this Bill. "I have no problem with the changes if they are to affect all of us.” “Let them first work on the potholes in the roads before coming up with fees.” “We already pay taxed on fuel and roads should remain a public good.” From Cabinet, the Bill will be sent to the Parliament’s Committee on Infrastructure for scrutiny before the entire house can debate it.