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Uganda Railways Corporation land worth shillings 91.8 billion lacks land titles, a report to Parliament has revealed.

A Treasury memorandum report by the finance ministry presented to Parliament indicates that although the land belongs to URC, management’s efforts to secure the land titles appear remote.

The report signed by Finance state minister Evelyn Anite says that the lack of 208 land titles including that of Nalukolongo Workshops land worth shillings 75 billion, has led to heavy encroachment and grabbing of the Corporation’s land.

According to the report, the accounting officer explained that management was pursuing the titling of land in various locations.

The accounting officer further explained that management had sought the intervention and assistance of the Solicitor General’s office to help them acquire title to the land on which the workshop and its ancillary developments are situated.

“The accounting officer also explained that measures to stop further encroachment were in place,” the report states.

The auditors recommended that the accounting officer should continue following up on the interventions and have all the titles processed for URC land.

“We recently launched a survey of all the Corporation’s land to establish their status. We are still waiting for the report,” URC head of commercial Stephen Wakasenza told the New Vision.

Anite said as part of the action taken by the Government, intervention to have all the titles processed for URC land is ongoing.

Sh103.8b loss

The report also indicates that the corporation made losses for the past two years worth shillings 103.8 billion; shillings 37.7 billion in 2020/2021 and shillings 66.1 billion in 2019/2020.

“The Corporation’s losses and the ratios computed are an indication that the Corporation is not performing well in terms of profitability and ability to sustain the provision of services without further Government intervention for funding and management strategies to improve revenue generation,” the report states.

The accounting officer explained that the performance results during the period were severely impacted by the COVID-19 situation that affected transit cargo operations.

The auditors recommended that the accounting officer should ensure that strategies are devised even during COVID-19 challenges to improve the revenue-generating potential of the corporation while putting in place cost-cutting mechanisms. 

The Accounting Officer was also advised to engage the Government on further financing to be able to cover the current operating costs.

Anite said the recent capital injection by the Government will lead to improved infrastructure and equipment, which will, in turn, result in a higher customer base leading to improved revenue hence improved performance.  

Procurement of used locomotives

On the procurement of the four used locomotives at shillings 41.3 billion, the audit noted that the bidder did not comply with some requirements within the bid document which were supposed to be the basis of evaluation. 

“Despite the non-compliance at the preliminary stage, the bid was evaluated at the technical stage without following procurement regulations. The accounting officer should always ensure that the evaluation committees check for bid responsiveness to the criteria set in the bid documents and recommend only fully responsive bids for the award of contracts,” the report reads.

As part of the action taken by the Government on the matter, Anite said the evaluation committee determined that the bid for locomotives was substantially responsive as guided in the solicitation documents.