IGG suspends sh15b Kanungu, Rukungiri tender

By Chris Kiwawulo

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has suspended the tendering process for emergency repairs of Ntungwe and Mitano bridges in Rukungiri and Kanungu districts.

The IGG spokesperson Ali Munira, said they had written to Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) suspending the project pending investigations into the award process.

“The Inspectorate has under section 14 (6) suspended the tendering process until investigations into the allegations that the process had flaws are complete,” Munira noted.

The IGG’s response followed a whistleblower who queried the tendering process for emergency repairs of the two bridges and requested the inspectorate to intervene.

The whistleblower noted that the proposed contractor – Prime Contractors Limited — submitted incomplete documents and misrepresented information in their bid documents.

The whistleblower was concerned that if the tendering process was approved, the Government would lose billions of shillings.

However, UNRA spokesperson Dan Alinange said the IGG’s letter was pre-mature because the tendering process was still ongoing. “We had not yet awarded the tender. The issue is with the contracts and I cannot comment much,” he stated.

Earlier, Alinange said Prime Contractors risk being blacklisted if they misrepresented information, adding; “the moment you misrepresent information, you will never work with us.”

Ntungwe and Mitano bridges were severely damaged and collapsed early this year because of heavy rains and old age. Mitano bridge was constructed in 1962 and Ntungwe in the 1950s, so both bridges need reconstruction as they are often used by heavy traffic heading to the DR Congo.

According to the whistleblower, who is one of the UNRA employees, the proposed contractor reportedly submitted an incomplete financial bid with major and fundamental components of works missing.

“This clearly did not meet the requirements set out in the solicitation document but the committee decided to simply pay a ‘blind eye’,” the whistleblower observed in the report to the IGG.

The whistleblower alleged that whereas Prime Contractors presented a sh11b bid document, some UNRA officials on the contracts committee advised that the figure be altered upwards to sh15b. “As you are already aware my Lord, alteration of bid documents after submission is not only a violation of the PPDA Act but also criminal.”

The whistleblower also stated that whereas Prime Contractors claimed to have done substantial bridge works in South Sudan yet this is not true.

“The road quoted as evidence of bridge works was Mvolo-Aluakluak road in South Sudan. This road has no single bridge and this can easily be verified from the United Nations Joint Logistical Services website,” the informer pointed out.

The whistleblower also said that there was evidence that previous works where Prime Contractors were engaged failed miserably, citing the 66km Kitgum-Musingo Road, the 39km Ntare-Mutonto-Kachwangobe Road and the 27km Katyaza-Murema-Bugango Road.

Along the Kitgum-Musingo road, the whistleblower noted that work commenced on February 2, 2010 and were supposed to be complete on August 1, 2011, but have up to date never been completed.

On the Ntare-Mutonto-Kachwangobe road and Katyaza-Murema-Bugango road, the informer observed that work commenced on May 31, 2011 and was to have been finished by October 29, 2012, but the projects delayed and have since been abandoned.