Prime
All ministries offices to move to Bwebajja
Bwebajja Hotel where all ministries offices will be moved to. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Kampala- All ministries and agencies now renting private premises will be housed in Bwebajja Airport Hotel complex on Entebbe Road when the ongoing government plans are concluded.
The premises have been renamed Bwebajja Project after government bought the hotel complex.
It was not readily established how much the government bought the complex at.
Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija said a Cabinet decision has been taken to put all the government offices together.
He said the decision is intended to save government expenditure on rent and ease coordination.
Mr Kasaija said government spends more than Shs100 billion annually on rent for its offices to private landlords.
“Government has realised that we cannot continue spending so much in rent. But the private sector needs not to fear that they are going to lose business because the economy is growing and their properties will be accommodated by other development entities,” Mr Kasaija said.
He made the revelations while presiding over the ground breaking ceremony for construction of head offices for the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) and Uganda Road Fund (URF) in Kampala last week.
The construction of the ten-floor twin tower, projected to cost Shs51 billion, will house PPDA and URF following a 2013 memorandum of understanding between the two government agencies.
Describing the project as a development plan to save the government recurrent budget payable on rent, Mr Kasaija said cabinet has resolved to amend the PPDA Act to remove sections that provide for administrative reviews which delays government projects.
“We are also amending the law on land ownership to give government more powers to acquire land for infrastructure developments without hurdles. We must run things efficiently and any principle in the law that is a stumbling block, we can change,” the minister said.
He attributed delays in government projects like Entebbe Expressway and Mubende-Kagadi road to people using the same law to demand exorbitant compensation.
The PPDA board chairman, Prof Simeon Wanyama, said construction of the joint head offices will be completed in three years.
He said the building will provide 14,796 square metres of space where 5,825 square meters will be let out.
Dr Merian Ssebunya, the URF board chairperson, said the project will help the two government entities harness their common interests, constraints and complementary strengths.
She said that PPDA and URF have established a project governance structure to ensure effective coordination of management, timely oversight and policy guidance by the two boards.
“I would like to request the contractor, the supervision consultant and the joint management to ensure we jointly deliver a high quality product within the expected time and cost to ensure all funds availed to the project by the treasury are fully utilised within the financial year,” Dr Sebunya said.
