IGG inquiry into Kampala roads project welcome

Much of the road infrastructure of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, is in a sorry state. That is an uncontested fact.  

There is an urgent need to make Kampala’s roads motorable, and reduce on peak hour traffic congestion, which has a huge impact on mobility and productivity in the city.  

It is in this context that we view the directive by the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Ms Beti Olive Kamya, to the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director, Ms  Dorothy Kisaka, to cancel the procurement process for the Lot Four road project over bribery claims with mixed feelings.  

For some background, the government received $288 million (Shs1.1 trillion) from African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project.  

The project, which covers five Lots, is aimed at tackling congestion through the improvement of the road network, upgrading of traffic junctions, and enhanced drainage capacity to mitigate flooding on the streets. 

Lot Four, under contention, comprises paving 3.94km of roads, reconstruction of 8.1km and reconstruction and dualling of 3.90km  roads, including signalisation of junctions in Kawempe, Lubaga, Makindye, and Central divisions. 

We hope that the saga will not filter to the procurement for the other Lots which is still ongoing.  Already, there are reports that roadworks cannot kick off before the controversy around Lot Four is cleared since it is the anchor project with equipment and supervisors for all five Lots. 

The directive by the IGG is very important and must be supported but we must also appreciate the urgency to fix Kampala City, to make it work.  

First, this newspaper’s anti-corruption crusade is known and we need not reiterate our support to the IGG and her team to stamp out corruption.  

In the same breath, we demand efficiency on the part of the IGG. The Inspectorate of Government (IG) must act without fear or favour, bring solid cases against the suspects and tackle the brazen impunity of those involved. This should happen as quickly as possible so that the project does not suffer further delays.  The project is one of the few efforts to counter the rapid degradation of infrastructure in the city. 

 We must also be alive to allegations that some individuals abuse the IG process to stall projects after they have not been successful bidders or where their interests have not been taken care of. We hope that is not the case in the instant project and that the IG’s powers have been invoked to support a credible process.  

Corruption, wasteful expenditure, racketeering, money laundering, and fraud, among other things are eating away at our society. We must fight back.