IGG halts Shs400m Jinja housing project

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has halted grading of the Masese housing project in Walukuba-Masese Division, Jinja Municipality citing irregularities.

The acting Jinja Municipal Council Town Clerk, Mr Jophram Waidhuba, during a Council meeting in the municipal chambers last week, said the project has been halted pending investigations by the Office of the IGG.
“IGG officials came to my office a few days ago and interrogated me for over two hours about the quality and value for money on this project,” he said.

He added: “And this means that all the work is now on hold until a report is out.’’
According to Mr Waidhuba, the IGG official asked him to tell the Municipal Engineer, Mr Muhammad Seyid, surveyor Robert Kitimbo, and Works supervisor Geoffrey Kaliro to “also prepare for interrogations”.

The Municipal Speaker, Mr Morison Bizitu, said the IGG’s investigations are timely because the list of beneficiaries had gone high.
“It is not good to comment on matters under investigation; but I was also not happy that instead of 90 residents, the list had been inflated to over 180 residents,” he said.

He added that the IGG should be given ample time to carry out investigations for the good of the beneficiaries.
The project is meant to accommodate about 90 residents who missed out on the house allocations in Walukuba Housing Estate as municipal authorities streamlined houses for proper ownership.

About Shs200m has so far been spent on the grading works expected to be half way by now.

About the project
The 13-acre project, which stretches from Plot M24 on Masese Hill, was launched in March this year and is being implemented by Jinja Municipal Council (JMC) at a cost of Shs400m.