UNRA wants new contractor for Katosi road
Nov 05, 2014
The Uganda National Roads Authority has started the process of getting a new contractor for the 74km Mukono-Katosi road after the Inspector General of Government (IGG) terminated the earlier works, citing fraud.
By Steven Candia and Simon Masaba
The Uganda National Roads Authority has started the process of getting a new contractor for the 74km Mukono-Katosi road after the Inspector General of Government (IGG) terminated the earlier works, citing fraud.
The fresh procurements as directed by the IGG will avoid the lengthy rigours associated with open bidding.
A company which claimed to be Eutaw Construction Company of Mississippi US was in 2013 awarded the contract but, sub-contracted it to M/s Chongquing International Construction Corporation (CICO), a Chinese firm which had began executing the contract.
Investigations have shown that the fake company used forged insurance bonds to secure a sh24.7b advance payment. The money was paid by UNRA into the Eutaw account at Housing Finance Bank whose signatories were Apolo Senkeeto, Michael Olvey and Niu Hong.
According to sources, UNRA began sending out documents seeking a new contractor for the sh165b Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi/Kisoga- Nyenga road last week and it is expected that the new contractor be known by the end of this month.
UNRA publicist Dan Alinange said: “We were aware of the directive by the IGG. Documents seeking a new contractor were given out last week.” The documents, he said, went out on Friday, adding that CICO had since began demobilising its equipment from the site.
When New Vision visited the site, work was still on-going. Two firms, he said, had picked documents for the contract in the quick bidding process.
Unlike in open bidding which requires the procuring entity to advertise and takes close to three months for the firms to return their bids and about one year to complete the process, the quick procurement is shorter and bypasses advertising.
The firms are expected to return the documents next week, detailing how much it will take them to implement the project. The cost is expected to change according to sources.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General Peter Nyombi, in an October 29 letter to President Yoweri Museveni concurred with an earlier legal opinion by his deputy, Freddie Ruhindi that there is no subsisting contract between UNRA and Eutaw given that the firm was incorporated in the US well after it had submitted its bid.
Attorney General's opinion on Katosi project
RELATED STORIES: