Debate Rages On Over Cost Of Entebbe Expressway

Entebbe Expressway outside Kampala

Debate Rages On Over Cost Of Entebbe Expressway


Twitter has been treated to a debate spanning two days with users showing no signs of slowing down and its all about the cost of the nearly completed Kampala-Entebbe Expressway compared to the much wider Thika Highway in Kenya.

The debate was sparked by a twitter user @kevrx who posted juxtaposed pictures of the Entebbe Express way with Thika Highway and captioned it with comparisons on the costs and width of the roads:

Entebbe Expressway-Uganda, (Length-53km, Lanes-4, Project Cost-$476m)

Vs

Thika Highway-Kenya, (Length-50km, Lanes-8, Project Cost-$360m)

 

Thika Highway in Nairobi, Kenya

The tweet has gone viral and has been retweeted nearly 400 times and liked by over 130 users. The debate has gone mental and across countries with kenyans spurring with Ugandans on the unofficial bragging rights on which country is most corrupt.

Here are the fascinating exchanges:

Ben Mwesigwa @mwesben posted:

@kevrx @mpozii I think terrain changes costs then compensation too because of land laws. How many kms cross swamp land? @UNRA_UG

@Kevrx shot back: @mwesben Do you also think the 50km of thika is flat terrain? @mpozii @UNRA_UG

Geoffrey Amanya aka @jeffamanya  posted: @kevrx @MonicaKahindo @BygSam son don’t weep give credit where due, criticism without solution won’t build any1.. they call it Ignorance

@kevrx shot back immediately: You speak with ignorance! Or think the 10s of over pases on Thika were constructed for free @MonicaKahindo @BygSam @andsjeff

He even posted more pictures of Thika Highway:

Monica Kahindo joined the fray: @MonicalKahindo: @kevrx @jeffamanya @BygSam @andsjeff And you speak with condescension. So am supposed to see a few images and figures and not ask qns ?

Amanya then too a shot at @Kevrx: @MonicaKahindo Most probably he is looking for a dictionary! @kevrx @BygSam @andsjeff

Dan Wandera Ogalo then purred:  @kevrx A nation of thieves masquerading as leaders.

 But @Kevrx was having none of that: @CKyobutungi lets give currency variation & inflation 20%, No subtraction of compensation because it happened in both projects. Any change?

Kyobutungi: @kevrx Thika road was mostly an expansion of an existing road, so compensation could not have been to the same level…..Raising a road in swamp for a long distance is not the same as building flyovers on solid ground.
@Kevrx: @CKyobutungi True but she not cause an excessive variation, as one has lager carriage way width. @CKyobutungi Cost labor & land is higher in kenya. But they produce massive project at less than our little KEE, Why?
Kyobutungi: @kevrx massive is relative! U r assuming that cost of constructing a km of road is the same regardless of whether it’s water, land, swamp.
@Kevrx: @CKyobutungi But the swamp was on save on compensation costs right? I understand the technicalities involved but it shd not be unrealistic.
Newbert Rugadya:  posts: @kevrx Did you consider the time lag and the road furniture? Was Thika a new road like Entebbe or an upgrade? And the terrain? @UNRA_UG
Eve Mashoo:  Whatever your reasoning is, this is still obnoxious 😠

 

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