Contractor faces challenges in completing projects worth Shs34 b.

The road projects in Mbarara city and Ntungamo municipality are under the Uganda Support for Municipal Development programme, which is funded by the World Bank.

Authorities in Mbarara City and the Deputy Inspector of Government, Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, have voiced concerns that if the contractor misses another deadline, the money allotted for the building of three roads in Mbarara City could end up back in the treasury.

Under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) project, Multiplex Limited and Ditaco International Trade were awarded a joint contract in May 2021 with the goal of building Major Victor Bwana Road (0.95 km), Galt Road (0.65 km), and Stanley Road (0.78 km) in Mbarara City for a total of 23 billion shillings.

Hillary Mugisha, the city engineer of Mbarara, reports that the three road projects are progressing at an 84% rate and that their financial performance is at 67.8%, or more than 16 billion Shillings out of the 23 billion Shillings allotted. As she toured the construction sites, Achan voiced concerns about the amount of work still to be done and the short amount of time left before the fiscal year ends. She underlined that failing to finish the work by the deadline could result in financial loss.

These worries were echoed by Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi, who cited the sluggish progress despite continuous high-quality work, which has raised concerns about missing the deadline for the fourth time. The USMID projects, which were initially supposed to be finished in January of this year, have been given an extension through the end of the current financial year. Kakyebezi forewarned that unfinished work would incur costs.

Multiplex’s civil engineer, Isaac Businge, gave the city administration and the Deputy Inspector General of Government assurances that the last of the auxiliary work on the roads would be finished in thirty days, ready for handover.

The creation of commercial access roads, streetlight installation, road sign installation, and road marking are some of the tasks that still need to be completed. As part of the fight against corruption, Mbarara City Commissioner James Mwesigye urged the office of the IGG to start sensitizing contractors against offering bribes during bidding processes to secure contracts.