Zzimwe faces new sh3b scam
Oct 19, 2003
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) has queried payment of sh3b to Zzimwe Construction Company for repairing potholes in the city, saying the work was shoddy
By Felix Osike
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) has queried payment of sh3b to Zzimwe Construction Company for repairing potholes in the city, saying the work was shoddy.
The IGG said some of the roads had developed new potholes shortly after the repair.
The contract, investigators said, was irregularly awarded by the District Executive Committee without the Tender Board input.
Zzimwe is already under investigation after his Barclays Bank account in Kampala was recently credited with over US$1m fraudulently transferred from the Chartered Bank headquarters in Nairobi.
The 170-page report, “Study of the operational efficiency and transparency of Kampala City Council service delivery,†says by the time the deputy city engineer, Stephen Kinyera, submitted the proposal to the board for ratification, work had started and sh100m had been spent.
“There was no value for money attained by the City Council. Even the Zzimwe rates quoted were extremely inflated as observed by the chairman of PAC Kampala district, J. Sekabembe, when he conducted an inquiry into the matter,†the report said.
It added that the condition of repairing and maintaining of city roads on credit for a period of three years was never fulfiled and yet “the money for repair and maintenance for a period of three years was paid to Zzimwe, totalling sh3,052, 918,489.26.†The roads were Namirembe, Ben Kiwanuka, Jinja and Bombo roads.
“Upon inspection of several roads that were done by Zzimwe in November 2002, the potholes were still too many even when the contract period was still valid,†the report said. Lack of competition bred this inefficiency, according to the report.
The report said the Kampala City Council made a double payment to Zzimwe and Stirling Civil Engineering to repair the roads in the same period.
Zzimwe was paid sh267m to repair and maintain Ben Kiwanuka street. On July 30, 2002 the tender board awarded the contract for the same road to Sterling at sh56,777,615.
The cost of repair of roads per square metre by Zzimwe had been more than doubled, the report said. It said Zimmwe in October 1999 approached the City Council for the repair of potholes and road maintenance for three years on credit.
The suggestion was routed through mayor Sebana Kizito’s office who gave a go-ahead to Zzimwe and requested him for the rates and cost.
“It was not clear why the management of KCC ever agreed to enter into such a deal,†the report said.
The company is owned by Andrew Kassaga who is being investigated over a US$ 1m cross-border bank fraud involving Congolese.
The contract for repair of city roads was awarded in March 2000 to run for three years ending March this year. Zzimwe had offered to repair the roads on credit, which enabled him win the tender.
However, by the end of the first year of the contract, three quarters of the money had been paid and the conditions of the letter of offer neglected.
The tender board queried the irregularity of the transaction on the grounds that the procurement regulations had been violated.
The IGG also queried a sh227m payment to Multiplex Company to repair Namirembe and Malcom X roads. It won the contract mainly because it promised credit but by the completion time, all the money had been paid.
Namirembe road was covered under the Zzimwe contract.
THE Inspector General of Government (IGG) has queried payment of sh3b to Zzimwe Construction Company for repairing potholes in the city, saying the work was shoddy.
The IGG said some of the roads had developed new potholes shortly after the repair.
The contract, investigators said, was irregularly awarded by the District Executive Committee without the Tender Board input.
Zzimwe is already under investigation after his Barclays Bank account in Kampala was recently credited with over US$1m fraudulently transferred from the Chartered Bank headquarters in Nairobi.
The 170-page report, “Study of the operational efficiency and transparency of Kampala City Council service delivery,†says by the time the deputy city engineer, Stephen Kinyera, submitted the proposal to the board for ratification, work had started and sh100m had been spent.
“There was no value for money attained by the City Council. Even the Zzimwe rates quoted were extremely inflated as observed by the chairman of PAC Kampala district, J. Sekabembe, when he conducted an inquiry into the matter,†the report said.
It added that the condition of repairing and maintaining of city roads on credit for a period of three years was never fulfiled and yet “the money for repair and maintenance for a period of three years was paid to Zzimwe, totalling sh3,052, 918,489.26.†The roads were Namirembe, Ben Kiwanuka, Jinja and Bombo roads.
“Upon inspection of several roads that were done by Zzimwe in November 2002, the potholes were still too many even when the contract period was still valid,†the report said. Lack of competition bred this inefficiency, according to the report.
The report said the Kampala City Council made a double payment to Zzimwe and Stirling Civil Engineering to repair the roads in the same period.
Zzimwe was paid sh267m to repair and maintain Ben Kiwanuka street. On July 30, 2002 the tender board awarded the contract for the same road to Sterling at sh56,777,615.
The cost of repair of roads per square metre by Zzimwe had been more than doubled, the report said. It said Zimmwe in October 1999 approached the City Council for the repair of potholes and road maintenance for three years on credit.
The suggestion was routed through mayor Sebana Kizito’s office who gave a go-ahead to Zzimwe and requested him for the rates and cost.
“It was not clear why the management of KCC ever agreed to enter into such a deal,†the report said.
The company is owned by Andrew Kassaga who is being investigated over a US$ 1m cross-border bank fraud involving Congolese.
The contract for repair of city roads was awarded in March 2000 to run for three years ending March this year. Zzimwe had offered to repair the roads on credit, which enabled him win the tender.
However, by the end of the first year of the contract, three quarters of the money had been paid and the conditions of the letter of offer neglected.
The tender board queried the irregularity of the transaction on the grounds that the procurement regulations had been violated.
The IGG also queried a sh227m payment to Multiplex Company to repair Namirembe and Malcom X roads. It won the contract mainly because it promised credit but by the completion time, all the money had been paid.
Namirembe road was covered under the Zzimwe contract.