IG breaks ground for UGX 69bn headquarters

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Construction of the headquarters of the Inspectorate of Government-IG is finally set to begin.   Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony on plots 71-75 Yusuf Lule Road and Plots 24-26 Clement Hill, Kampala this morning, Rose N. Kafeero, the Permanent Secretary of the IG, said the 15 storied building will cost them Shillings 69 Billion.

She said the building is expected to be complete within three years.

Plans for the construction of the IG house has been on since 2005 when they acquired 1.2 acres of land from Post Office Uganda at Shillings 5.4bn.

Construction work stalled following controversy on how the land acquired. However, a couple of IG staff were investigated and cleared.

The next hurdle was to look for the money to procure a contractor to kick start the construction works. This too didn’t escape the controversy. Government allocated Shs 10bn in the 2015/16 financial year.

This was not enough to kick-start the project. Government has since increased the money to Shillings 25bn. This is the available money, with the reminder expected to come later.

The procurement of the contractor took two years with three reviews of the process after a complaint that it was not credible.  Kafeero said she this was the most trying time for the institution but they managed to go through it albeit late.

On her part, the Inspector General of Government, Justice Irene Mulyagonja, said the Inspectorate of Government has been growing with the creation of more divisions, which requires more space.

Currently, the IG has up 325 staff and pays Shs 2.5bn annually in rent.

Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija said he was pushing for the quick amendment of the PPDA act to ensure that unnecessary delays in procurement are tamed.

The delays usually accrue from the fact that some of the bidders complain or whistleblowers come out to complain about corruption in the process.

This has dogged many government projects with lots of money on them, including the IG building which was reviewed three times before settling with Roko construction.

Kasaija said in six months, he would avail the remaining money for the completion of the project. He hopes other government agencies and departments use the IG facility, which completed to hold their functions instead of going to hotels.

*****

URN