CHOGM PROBE: Shs22b spent on street lights that don’t work

In a meeting with the Ministry of Works officials, the MPs investigating the alleged misuse of Chogm funds heard that after “grabbing” the street lighting deal from Kampala City Council, the engineers in the Works ministry later awarded the deal to Dott Services Ltd and inflated contract by Shs3.5 billion without authority.

Kamplala
Officials in the Works Ministry secretly inflated the Chogm deal to install street lights in the city, in an apparent breach of the law, leading to the loss of Shs3.5 billion in public funds, it has emerged.
Eng. Sam Bagonza, the ministry’s chief engineer who is currently on interdiction over corruption accusations, and Eng. Peter Kikuyu, Eng Waisswa Naluwairo of Kampala City Council (KCC) and Ms Dorothy Birabwa have been asked to refund the money or be arrested for corruption.

“These engineers including the Town Clerk of Kampala [Ruth Kijjambu] must refund taxpayers money or face arrest for abuse of office,” the Public Accounts Committee chairman, Nandala Mafabi said. “These officials varied the contract for street lighting without authority and later added bills worth Shs3.5 billion.”

In a meeting with the Ministry of Works officials, the MPs investigating the alleged misuse of Chogm funds heard that after “grabbing” the street lighting deal from Kampala City Council, the engineers in the Works ministry later awarded the deal to Dott Services Ltd and inflated contract by Shs3.5 billion without authority.

The variations to the contract were 47 per cent above the accepted variation under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) act, 2003 of 15 per cent—making the deal irregular and questionable.
In defence of the deal, Eng Kikuyu, said: “Eng Bagonza was my boss, we did this work under pressure and we did it in good faith.”

It also emerged that although KCC had requested for Shs4.2 billion for street lights in the city ahead of the Chogm meeting in November 2007, later when Ministry of Works took over the deal, it was controversially inflated to Shs22 billion.

Request for leniency
Without any success, Mr Charles Muganzi, the permanent secretary in the ministry who conceded to have lacked of PPDA clearance, appealed that the committee forgives the officials involved in the deal.

Ms Kijjambu, who failed to appear before the committee claiming that she was sick, is also wanted to explain how the Chogm street lights deal ended up in the Works ministry yet initially it was under her docket.

Despite billions of money being spent on the street lights, many stopped working within weeks of the end of Chogm.

The inquiry has uncovered widespread abuse of Public funds under Chogm.