By Mary Karugaba

THE Commonwealth Business Forum steering committee has hired a tent at $400,000 (about sh700m) to be used during the forum.

The meeting will take place in Kampala from November 20-24.

The committee chairman, James Mulwana, told MPs yesterday that the committee had agreed to hire the tent after realising that Sheraton Hotel, the host, did not have a large room to accommodate all the delegates.

The tent, to be placed at the Sheraton Hotel, will be rented from Dubai for 10 days. After the event, it will be returned, Mulwana said.
“It has a carpet, decorations, air conditioning and other modern facilities. It is like a house. In Dubai, they are used by sheikhs during weddings,” he noted.

“This is not the first time a tent is hired from another country. We did it for the Smart Partnership Meeting in Munyonyo in 2001. The tent was hired at a cost of $150,000 from Zimbabwe but it was not large enough to accommodate all the delegates. This time, we want to host the people in a good environment. We believe the tent will come in handy,” he stated while briefing members of the CHOGM parliamentary select committee on the progress of the meeting.

According to Mulwana, over 1,000 delegates are expected for the meeting. “We had budgeted for about 700 people but we were overwhelmed by the response.”

Mulwana said the participation fee had also been increased from $500 (sh850,000) to $750 (sh1.2m) for local guests and $750 (sh1.2m) to $1,000 (sh1.7m) for foreigners.

He added that 30 slots were given to the small business community at no cost.

Several presidents, including Thambo Mbeki of South Africa, have confirmed participation.
MPs Peter Mutuluza (NRM) Opange Louis (Independent) were concerned that the cost of hiring the tent was high.

The MPs argued that the committee should have used the money to put up a structure instead of hiring a tent.

“As a business man who believes in value for money, is that tent worth that money? There are better facilities in Uganda,” Opange argued.

Mulwana explained that the committee could not have put up a structure within the short time and that it was also not possible to give Sheraton Hotel the money to expand the conference room.

“This is an opportunity for the business community to link with others. It is not only going to benefit Ugandans but also the rest of Africa,” he said.

The committee applauded Mulwana for the work done.