Mayor defends Zzimwe
Oct 20, 2003
KAMPALA Mayor John Ssebaana Kizito (right) has defended Zzimwe Construction Company’s sh3b pothole contract, saying the city engineering department was satisfied with the work before payment was made.
By Catherine Ntabadde
KAMPALA Mayor John Ssebaana Kizito (right) has defended Zzimwe Construction Company’s sh3b pothole contract, saying the city engineering department was satisfied with the work before payment was made.
He said the department issued a certificate of completion to Zzimwe Construction, owned by Andrew Kasagga, after the repair.
Ssebaana was commenting on the Inspector General of Government’s (IGG) report, which queried the sh3b paid to the company for resealing potholes in the city.
The report said Zzimwe did shoddy work.
But Ssebaana said, “We don’t pay contractors before inspecting what they have done. We paid Zzimwe after our engineers were satisfied with the work. They even issued him a certificate of completion.â€
The IGG’s report also said the pothole repair contract was irregularly awarded to Zzimwe by the district executive committee in 2000.
However, Ssebaana said the contract was awarded by the district tender board.
“No one awards tenders except the tender board. The executive or technical staff don’t have powers to award tenders,†he said.
Ssebaana said contractors do what the authorities tell them, depending on the contract sum.
“Bills of quantity were carried out before Zzimwe started work. The tender board describes the kind of work a contractor is supposed to do depending on the money available,†he said.
Ssebaana said most of the city roads were old and needed to be reconstructed instead of resealing potholes.
He said Kampala City Council had limited funds, which could be used for only road repair, not reconstruction.
“It’s a miracle that we can run the city with little money,†Ssebaana said.
KAMPALA Mayor John Ssebaana Kizito (right) has defended Zzimwe Construction Company’s sh3b pothole contract, saying the city engineering department was satisfied with the work before payment was made.
He said the department issued a certificate of completion to Zzimwe Construction, owned by Andrew Kasagga, after the repair.
Ssebaana was commenting on the Inspector General of Government’s (IGG) report, which queried the sh3b paid to the company for resealing potholes in the city.
The report said Zzimwe did shoddy work.
But Ssebaana said, “We don’t pay contractors before inspecting what they have done. We paid Zzimwe after our engineers were satisfied with the work. They even issued him a certificate of completion.â€
The IGG’s report also said the pothole repair contract was irregularly awarded to Zzimwe by the district executive committee in 2000.
However, Ssebaana said the contract was awarded by the district tender board.
“No one awards tenders except the tender board. The executive or technical staff don’t have powers to award tenders,†he said.
Ssebaana said contractors do what the authorities tell them, depending on the contract sum.
“Bills of quantity were carried out before Zzimwe started work. The tender board describes the kind of work a contractor is supposed to do depending on the money available,†he said.
Ssebaana said most of the city roads were old and needed to be reconstructed instead of resealing potholes.
He said Kampala City Council had limited funds, which could be used for only road repair, not reconstruction.
“It’s a miracle that we can run the city with little money,†Ssebaana said.