Lead Story
Laropi Ferry connecting Moyo to Adjumani.
ma), MV Pearl (Masaka-kalangala) and MV Ssese (Masaka-Kalangala).
nese contractor had been selected to undertake the works.
Two Ferries at Bukakata/Luku are provided and operated by Kalangala Infrastructure Services Ltd (KIS). KIS was contracted by the government to provide infrastructure services in Kalangala under a private public partnership arrangement.
The other prominent case is of Mbale-Tirinyi-Nakalama road which threw UNRA into a near crisis. The Infrastructure Magazine was told that in spite of allegedly doing a poor job on the Mbale-Soroti road, Dott Services still “won” the contract for the Mbale-Tirinyi-Nakalama road contract.
Other on-going ferry development works are in Namasale Kyoga II and Buwenge-Kasilo-Kabermaido, among others.
The devil in the detail
Aswa Bridge on Lira -Pader road.
Kyankwanzi to Ngoma in Nakaseke) and Aswa bridge on Lira-Kitgum border. More 21 bridges are under construction including the second bridge over River Nile in Jinja, Kyanzuki on Kasese-Kilembe road and Lopei in Kotido, among others.
Ferry services By the end of 2017, UNRA operated nine ferries linking various roads to water bodies. These are: Laropi (Moyo-Adjumani), Masindi port (Kiryandogo-Apac), Wanseko (Bullisa-Nebbi), Nakiwogo (Entebbe), Obongi (moyo-Adjumani), Kyoga 1 (Amolatar-Nakasongola), Kiyindi (Buikwe-Buvu-
www.infrastructure.co.ug
While activities are seemingly moving well, observers say in spite of changes in management a few years ago, UNRA is still infiltrated by some ills. One of the main issues is the alleged work of lobbyists who are out to cut deals. Sources told The Infrastructure Magazine that lobbyists work with insiders to fix deals and contracts. As a result, sometimes contracts are awarded to companies that lack capacity to execute projects, leading to delays, cost overruns and poor quality work. In a number of instances, UNRA has had to cancel contracts. A case in point is the Rukungiri-Kihihi-Ishaha road, which was bedevilled by “administrative reviews” and constant appeals by bidders. This forced UNRA to cancel the procurement process, despite the fact that a Chi-
It is alleged that Dott Services delayed the works, and kept raising costs. When UNRA terminated the contract, they run to courts of law and to the presidency in what was seen as actions just to cause disruption. Subsequently, however, UNRA was reportedly forced by President Museveni to reinstate the Dott Services contract. Another challenge is that due to high cost per km of constructing Ugandan roads, there is a shadow of doubt whether the return on investment will be achieved. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), every US Dollar spent on the road should generate growth value of US$3 to the GDP. In the case of Uganda, both the World Bank and IMF have expressed doubt that the country will reap such dividends from her investment on roads. While there seems to be several construction activities on the roads, the proportion under construction is tiny compared to what remains unpaved (over 80 per cent).
13 Jan - Feb 2018