CMI gets sh20b new home
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday commissioned the new headquarters for the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) located on Mbuya Hill.
By Barbara Among
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday commissioned the new headquarters for the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) located on Mbuya Hill.
The three-block complex, with two blocks comprising four floors and the third two floors, are overlooking the eastern part of Kampala city, which includes areas of Banda, Kireka, parts of Kitintatle and the highway to the Uganda-Kenya border.
Built at a cost of sh20.5b by business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia, the headquarters will also house the counter terrorism unit.
Museveni told the army that security and peace in the country depend on the economy.
He warned civil servants against frustrating and undermining players in the private sector, arguing that economic growth depends on the private sector.
“I will not tolerate anyone destroying the private sector…this is the problem of civil servants, when you undermine the private sector, you destroy the economy,†said Museveni.
He noted that the earnings of companies in the private sector such as Speke Hotel and Roofings Ltd exceed what Uganda earns from selling coffee.
Roofing earns $400m per annum from selling steel products, Sudhir earns $400m per annum from his businesses, while coffee brings in $300m annually. The President said the Government would concentrate on building infrastructure such as roads and electricity, in order to boost private sector growth.
Museveni revealed that he was under pressure from private investors who wish to transform Kampala.
In line with this, he demanded that the tenants of Nakawa-Naguru estates be evicted.
The President also said he was giving the land on which the Nsambya Police Barracks is located to an investor who will build a “big town.â€
The barracks is sitting on about 45-hectares of prime land. The Government wants to give out the land to private developers who will, in return, build new houses for about 7,300 Police officers outside Kampala.
He expressed concern over the fact that there are only 280,000 registered companies in Uganda.
This he said does not rhyme with the population of seven million households.
“The problem with Ugandans is that they are indisciplined, unserious, alcoholics and extravagant,†said Museveni.
CMI chief Brig. James Mugira said the completion of the headquarters would go a long way in helping the chieftaincy achieve its goals.
Over the years, he said, the chieftaincy has grown from a small unit of the National Resistance Army into a fully-fledged arm of the national army. Sudhir built the headquarter in exchange of prime land at Plot 1, Kira Road in Kitante. Sudhir said yesterday that he built the headquarters at an extra cost of sh14b, instead of the agreed sh6b.
CMI is expected to vacate the Kitante offices in a month’s time. Sudhir said he would construct a five star hotel and a modern supermarket in the area.
In 2007, the Government leased to Sudhir CMI land as compensation for revoking his lease on former Shimon Demonstration School land.
This was after the land was re-allocated to a Saudi investor, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Alsaud, to build a five-star hotel. However, a wrangle erupted between the defence ministry and Sudhir over the 15-acre land.
To avoid suit for breach of agreement, the Government offered him the CMI land.
However, the defence ministry agreed to vacate the land on condition that Sudhir builds new CMI headquarters elsewhere.
It took 14 months to construct the new headquarters. The design of the buildings and supervision of its construction was done by the Uganda Peoples Defence Force Engineering unit.
Brig. Mugira however said the new headquarter is not fenced and this makes it vulnerable to infiltrators and it also lacks staff quarters.
Chief of Defence Force Gen Aronda Nyakairima said that the new CMI headquarters fits into the plan by the Force to construct modern work places, training schools and health units for the army.
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni yesterday commissioned the new headquarters for the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) located on Mbuya Hill.
The three-block complex, with two blocks comprising four floors and the third two floors, are overlooking the eastern part of Kampala city, which includes areas of Banda, Kireka, parts of Kitintatle and the highway to the Uganda-Kenya border.
Built at a cost of sh20.5b by business tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia, the headquarters will also house the counter terrorism unit.
Museveni told the army that security and peace in the country depend on the economy.
He warned civil servants against frustrating and undermining players in the private sector, arguing that economic growth depends on the private sector.
“I will not tolerate anyone destroying the private sector…this is the problem of civil servants, when you undermine the private sector, you destroy the economy,†said Museveni.
He noted that the earnings of companies in the private sector such as Speke Hotel and Roofings Ltd exceed what Uganda earns from selling coffee.
Roofing earns $400m per annum from selling steel products, Sudhir earns $400m per annum from his businesses, while coffee brings in $300m annually. The President said the Government would concentrate on building infrastructure such as roads and electricity, in order to boost private sector growth.
Museveni revealed that he was under pressure from private investors who wish to transform Kampala.
In line with this, he demanded that the tenants of Nakawa-Naguru estates be evicted.
The President also said he was giving the land on which the Nsambya Police Barracks is located to an investor who will build a “big town.â€
The barracks is sitting on about 45-hectares of prime land. The Government wants to give out the land to private developers who will, in return, build new houses for about 7,300 Police officers outside Kampala.
He expressed concern over the fact that there are only 280,000 registered companies in Uganda.
This he said does not rhyme with the population of seven million households.
“The problem with Ugandans is that they are indisciplined, unserious, alcoholics and extravagant,†said Museveni.
CMI chief Brig. James Mugira said the completion of the headquarters would go a long way in helping the chieftaincy achieve its goals.
Over the years, he said, the chieftaincy has grown from a small unit of the National Resistance Army into a fully-fledged arm of the national army. Sudhir built the headquarter in exchange of prime land at Plot 1, Kira Road in Kitante. Sudhir said yesterday that he built the headquarters at an extra cost of sh14b, instead of the agreed sh6b.
CMI is expected to vacate the Kitante offices in a month’s time. Sudhir said he would construct a five star hotel and a modern supermarket in the area.
In 2007, the Government leased to Sudhir CMI land as compensation for revoking his lease on former Shimon Demonstration School land.
This was after the land was re-allocated to a Saudi investor, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Alsaud, to build a five-star hotel. However, a wrangle erupted between the defence ministry and Sudhir over the 15-acre land.
To avoid suit for breach of agreement, the Government offered him the CMI land.
However, the defence ministry agreed to vacate the land on condition that Sudhir builds new CMI headquarters elsewhere.
It took 14 months to construct the new headquarters. The design of the buildings and supervision of its construction was done by the Uganda Peoples Defence Force Engineering unit.
Brig. Mugira however said the new headquarter is not fenced and this makes it vulnerable to infiltrators and it also lacks staff quarters.
Chief of Defence Force Gen Aronda Nyakairima said that the new CMI headquarters fits into the plan by the Force to construct modern work places, training schools and health units for the army.