AfDB bans Chinese roads construction company in Uganda for corruption.
China Henan International Corporation Group (CHICO), a Chinese roads construction company has been banned by the African Development Bank (AfDB) for participating in “fraudulent activity” in a project that the AfDB is funding in Uganda.
CHICO, the Henan-based constructor, is now prohibited from participating in any new AfDB-funded projects on the continent, including its ongoing project in Kenya. The ban will last for a full year.
In the course of submitting a bid for the procurement of civil works for upgrading Rukungiri-Kihihi-Ishasha/Kanungu to bituminous standard, a component of the road sector support project in Uganda, the Chinese road builder concealed the use of a commission agent, according to an AfDB investigation.
The road project, which crosses both the eastern and southwestern regions of Uganda, is essential for “promoting regional integration and cross-border trade with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya,” according to the AfDB.
AfDB, World Bank, and local governments have funded CHICO’s road projects in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda; however, some of these projects have also been tainted in different ways.
In 2022, The Kisii-Isebania road project in south-western Kenya, which was funded by the AfDB, was abandoned by CHICO after it demanded payment of arrears totaling Shs 1.5 billion.
In 2019, The company was accused of forging lease agreements for land parcels and deceitfully obtaining soil worth Shs 3.7 million from a farmer in a Kiisi court.
In Tanzania, CHICO is constructing a 57 kilometre road linking Mkiwa-Itigi and Noranga towns in Singida region in the central parts of the country..
Recently, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has barred numerous companies for allegedly engaging in fraudulent activities related to projects it funds.
Five companies, including the Kenyan company Goldsun Investments, were barred from participating in the bank’s funded or affiliated projects last year,
Kenyan company Goldsun Investments was barred after it was discovered that the company had committed corruption during a tender for the dualling of the 84 km Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway in Central Kenya.
