Introduction
As a landlocked country, Uganda has always been dependent on its neighbours, especially Kenya, for movement of its imports and exports. It is connected to the sea through the ports of Mombasa, Kenya and Tanga and Mombasa in Tanzania. Uganda has a reasonably well developed infrastructure comprising a network of road, rail and airport. The country is fairly adequately connected to its neighbours as well as the COMESA member states by rail, road and air.

Having been a major recipient of bilateral and multilateral donor funding for decades, Uganda has had a good portion of its transport infrastructure rehabilitated. A number of roads, landing sites and Entebbe International Airport have regularly received budgetary votes for renovation every FY. The basic infrastructure such as trunk and rural feeder roads has also been renovated.

The Role of the transport infrastructure
The state of the transport infrastructure directly impacts on the performance of other sectors of the economy. While roads have majorly been instrument in facilitating the movement of goods and services to markets, air transport has virtually been the backbone of the tourism industry. Tourists from Europe and other parts of the world are able to come to Uganda and visit major tourist sites like Bwindi Impenetrable Forest due to the availability of Entebbe International Airport. The airport has also facilitated regional co-operation and development as several dignitaries (including heads of state and government) transit through it even if they had no urgent matters to discuss with Uganda government officials.
The railway and marine transport infrastructure has enabled the development of the fishing industry which is one of the fastest growing and highest foreign exchange earners for the country. Transport along Lake Victoria, which is shared by the three East African countries keep the nationals from all these countries together and in a way, fosters social and economic integration.

Performance of the sector
The transport sector made steady progress with all sub-sectors registering significant growth figures. Overall, general cargo increased by 48% mostly due to the increase in the volume of imports and exports of horticultural, flowers and fish products. Most of the cargo id freighted under scheduled passenger flights.

The share of the transport and communications sector in the GDP has averaged 5.1 per cent over the last 5 years. The gazetted roads, which form 30% of the road network, carried 84% of the total road traffic volume. The number of vehicles on the road is estimated to have grown by 6.6% between January 2001 and December 2003.

The number of transit passengers through Entebbe International Airport rose from 68,324 in 2002 to an estimated 74,189 in December 2003. The volume of non-traditional exports through the airport increased from 14,543 tonnes in 2001 to 17,180 tonnes in 2003.

Road Transport
This remains the most dominant mode of transport in Uganda. It comprises about 10,000 km of classified main roads (trunk, secondary and tertiary), about 25,000 km of district (feeder) roads, 2,800 km of urban roads and 30,000 km of community access roads. In order to enhance access to services and markets as well as stimulate economic activities, the government accords high priority to the construction and maintenance of national roads. Government has now embarked on construction of the Northern Kampala Bypass, which will provide an alternative route to traffic from the Kenya/Uganda border that are bound for southern and western Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. This road is also part of the Northern Corridor, which is an important road link in the country network, over which 90 per cent of Ugandan imports and exports are transported.

In May 2004, government asked formally donors for US $20m annually for the second 10-year Road Sector Development Programme (RSDPII). The money is meant for institutional management reform, which entails the formation of a Road Authority responsible for a national road network development and management and to complete the backlog of road maintenance projects.

During the FY 2004/05, government has provided sh7b to complete the following ongoing projects: Pakwach-Nebbi road, Sironko-Kapchorwa road, Gayaza-Kalagi road, Busunju-Kiboga roads. Other ongoing projects include Hoima Road, Karuma -Olwiyo and Kagamba-Rukungiri roads, together with the reconstruction of the Jinja-Bugiri road.

In addition, procurement of civil works is underway for roads between Fort Portal and Hima, Hima and Kikoroyo, Kasese and Kilembe, Soroti and Lira, Busega and Mityana, Kampala, Gayaza, Zirobwe and Wobulenzi, Matugga, Semuto and Kapeka. Government also announced plans to regravel the road between Atiak and Moyo.

Rail Transport
Traffic volume along the permanent rail way (Kampala-Malaba line) continued to rise over the past one year. The total volume of cargo along the line rose to 919,252 tonnes by December 2003 from 714,906 tonnes in December 2001. In a move geared at improving the regional rail links and ease the pressure on the road network, the governments of Uganda and Kenya are currently engaged in discussions to implement a joint concession of the two rail networks. As a landlocked country, Uganda is still engaging Tanzania on the southern route.

Air Transport
The aviation industry continues to expand, with currently 14 scheduled air-lines offering 65 frequencies a week. Commercial aircraft movements at Entebbe International Airport is expected to hit 16.2% in 2004 up from 13.9 registered in 2002. In addition to serving as an alternative gateway to the outside world, the industry is also acting as a vehicle for promotion of tourism and non-traditional perishable exports which depend on efficient air transportation system.
In April 2004 however, all major airlines increased their fare by up to US$10 depending on the routes they operate. Airline officials said the increment was imposed on travellers as a fuel surcharge following the recent increase in oil prices on the world market. The decision was taken at a February 2004 meeting in Geneva where all the airlines under the International Air Transport Association were represented.

During this FY, Entebbe International Airport introduced an Apron Safety Committee (ASC). The committee is geared towards creating a special forum for people involved with ground handling safety at the airport’s airside. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials said the move was in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association Aircraft Handling Manual. Staff from Entebbe Handling Services, DAS Handling Services, Fresh Handling Limited, Uganda In-flight Services, Entebbe Joint Aviation Facility and CAA are members of the committee.

Marine Transport
Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) owns and operates 3 wagon ferries on Lake Victoria from Port Bell and Jinja in Uganda to Kisumu in Kenya and Mwanza in Tanzania. The maximum capacity of each wagon ferry is 880 tonnes. In April 2004, Egypt announced plans to invest in water transport in Uganda. According to the acting head of the Africa and Middle East department, Emanuel Orinzi, the investment in water transport on the water bodies in Uganda is part of their effort to boost trade and development between the two countries. The new Egyptian investment in water transport is intended to ease passenger and cargo transporting. It follows a number of other Egyptian investments in Uganda in some fields like agriculture, cultural heritage, education, diplomacy, civil engineering and banking.

Government also issued water transport safety measures to control accidents on the lakes. The measures include the re-introduction of mobile courts and compulsory life jackets for all those using the lake. Official statistics from the government indicate that most water accidents are due to over-loading. The new measures would help decrease the cases of catching immature fish.

Challenges facing the Transport Sector
The poor state of the transport infrastructure is in itself the major challenge facing the sector. Over 60% of the road network in Uganda is so bad rendering some of it impassable. This affects the transportation of goods and services to markets. The poor state of the roads has also been a major contributor to the road carnage which worsens every other year. Government there-fore faces the daunting task of purchasing road construction equipment which is expensive. In situations where development partners have donated such equipment, it has been misused for purposes other than road construction.

Besides, the rail line sorely needs upgrading. Although it was designed for train speeds up to 80 kilometers per hour (kph), it barely operates at speeds of 25 kph. Operations have also suffered greatly over the years because there is about three times more traffic inbound than outbound. The rail yard in Kampala is congested, and cars often wait many days longer than necessary to unload. Once unloaded, they seldom make the return journey to Mombasa expeditiously. Often shippers in Mombasa wait for empty wagons or flat cars to return before they can ship loads out to Uganda. The URC currently employs about 1,800 people but only needs about 1,000 to operate. The railroad lacks the funds to pay severance to employees so it must continue to pay for labor it does not need.

The conditions for road freight operators could hardly be worse. One stretch of Ugandan highway between Malaba and Jinja has sections washed out all together, and almost all other sections necessitate that trucks weave from the left to the right side of the two-lane road to avoid very large pot holes. Burst tires, broken springs, and bent axles are common, as are accidents. Although the road was poorly constructed, the deterioration is exacerbated by the trucks themselves which are often overloaded. 

There is also the general complaint among truck owners that there should be more harmonization of axle weight regulations between Uganda and Kenya to facilitate clearance at the border and avoid fines at weigh stations. Although the Uganda Truck Owners Association (UTOA) was formed to advise government on policies that would increase the efficiency of road transport, there are still unnecessary delays, confusion, and non-compliance.

Conclusion
One obvious fact about the transport industry in Uganda is that the country relies almost exclusively on other countries to transport goods to and from international markets. This means that the more efficient, compatible, and transparent the transport operations are, the better they will be able to harmonize transport operations in Uganda. But while attempting to improve its own transport infrastructure, the government has the onerous task of overcoming the above challenges. It is also important to note that the liberalization of the air transport sub-sector in particular implied increased competition. Accordingly, the disputes among various airline companies must be dealt with amicably to avoid unnecessary friction among airline operators.