$8bn standard gauge railway project: Chinese summoned

By Joyce Namutebi

KAMPALA - The parliamentary select committee probing the $8b (sh22trillion) standard gauge railway (SGR) contract has summoned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) over the project.

The decision was communicated by the committee’s chairperson, Kafeero Ssekitoleko, after CCECC officials failed to appear before the MPs committee Thursday.

They had been invited to give their side of the story in regard to the project.

 “The clerk wrote a letter and delivered it to them, but they did not want to receive it or hear anything regarding procurement of the SGR,” Ssekitoleko told the committee.

“It is not them to choose whether to appear or not. They have chosen to reject our invitation and we think it is not proper,” he said.

He said he would invoke his powers to issue summons to CCECC.

“Whether they are interested in the procurement or not, we want to know the circumstances under which their memorandum of understanding was cancelled,” Ssekitoleko said.

He explained that because they did not get a response from CCECC who are the complainants, the committee postponed its afternoon meeting with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which was later awarded the contract.
 

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From left, Dr. Fassil Hahom (the Ethiopia  minister and advisor to the Prime Minister), Presidents Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) at Munyonyo during the launch of the Uganda Standard Guage Railway at  Munyonyo in Kampala on October 8, 2014. (photo credit: Enock Kakande)

The committee is examining the circumstances that led to the termination of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Uganda and CCECC for the reconstruction of the Kampala-Malaba railway line.

The committee is also probing the process of constructing the SGR and examining the contract signed between the Government of Uganda and CHEC.

The committee will afterwards advise on the economic and budgetary implications and affordability of the contract.

CCECC went to court to challenge the termination of the MOU with the Government, which was however squashed by the High Court.

The President launched the construction of the railway project in October, amid controversy. Five MPs Theodore Ssekikubo, Abdu Katuntu, Wilfred Niwagaba, Barnabas Tinkasiimire and Paul Mwiru, petitioned Parliament, calling for investigations into the matter.

Meanwhile, the permanent secretary in the finance ministry, Keith Muhakanizi, told the same committee that the Government had agreed to the ministry’s proposal to construct the railway in phases.

“Our concern is not that we should not do the railway, but we should do it in a proper manner,” Muhakanizi, who was accompanied by his deputy, Patrick Ocailap, and others, said.
 

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A model map showing the standard gauge railway line network in Uganda. (photo credit: Enock Kakande)

Muhakanizi had, in a letter, declined to endorse the SGR project, considering Uganda’s debt sustainability and other outstanding issues.

He tabled several correspondences his ministry had issued on the subject, but noted that the issue of the cost should be dealt with further.

He also called for harmony with Kenya to “ensure that they also contract on their side”. “We need to put up very strong supervision to ensure that the contractor does a good job,” he said.

However, Muhakanizi and his team were grilled by the committee about the ministry’s nomination of one of their officials, Jennipher Muwuliza, to sit on the negotiating committee for the SGR.

 The MPs wanted to know why she appended her signature to the evaluation report, which had a figure of $6.7b for the project, when, according to instructions from the ministry, she was instructed not to enter into financial commitments.

The MPs also expressed concern over the “short” time it took to come up with the report and how the price was adjusted.

Following Muwuliza’s submission, the MPs agreed to summon her again, together with other evaluation committee members and to make a submission under oath.