KCCA sued over street parking procurement

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala Capital City Authority – KCCA has been sued for cancelling the process of procuring an entity to develop and operate street parking services in the city.

KCCA is being sued by Urban Living Limited which is seeking $340, 000 (S1.1 Billion) in compensation as a result of the cancellation of the procurement process.

Urban Living in its application before the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala contends that KCCA made the decision when the Company had already invested in research and did consultations from both the local and foreign experts in order to provide a service. But it was never given a right to be heard by the time the process was cancelled.

On April 21st 2021, KCCA published requests for expression of procurement and the provider to develop and operate a system called integrated on street parking management solution on its website and print Media.

The Integrated on-street Parking Management Solution is aimed at providing an adequately designed system that will reduce traffic congestion by improving City Parking Management. It is supposed to help in reducing traffic congestion by encouraging mode shift from private vehicles and also to improve access to parking there by reducing user’s costs related to delayed parking among other benefits.

However, upon reading the procurement notice, and consultation of KCCA Procurement and Disposal Unit, Urban Living alleges that it engaged services of smart parking systems and information systems and researchers from developed cities in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany on their experience and viability of smart parking services.

The Company adds that after getting advice from those developed cities, it also did research from cities like Dodoma, Kinshasa, Cape Town, among others and also based on research among challenges and failures of previous management systems in Kampala under Green Boat Entertainment Limited, and Multiplex Limited, they made a business decision to prepare an expression of interest biding procurement for the service.

They also allege that they kept engaging the services of five local and finance experts and five local and foreign technical experts, five local and foreign researchers, three clerks and five drivers for the project to meet the deadline which was May 20th 2021.

The court records show that by that time, nine companies had submitted their bids waiting for the evaluation process between May 17th to 28th 2021 and the display and communication for the shortlist for the procurement process was scheduled for June 2nd 2021. But they say, all these elapsed with no communication and feedback despite them having written to the KCCA Minister.

“Upon the Minister of Kampala being non responsive, the applicant wrote to the Executive Director of the 1st respondent / KCCA on October 18th 2021 seeking an update and also complaining about the delays of the process which delay was causing huge costs of maintaining the experts who were necessary for the purposes of making presentations and justifications during the review process,” reads the application.

As a result, the court records indicate that KCCA stated that the process had been halted by their Procurement Disposal Unit pending an investigation of the process and it was subsequently cancelled based on the Unit’s recommendations at the end of the investigations.

Uganda Radio Network however couldn’t independently verify what the findings of the investigations were. “The applicant is aware that there is no valid running contract or at all for the management of street parking in Kampala City and the decision to cancel the said procurement process without any running contract breeds corruption, caused loss to the public coffers, cusses diminishing standards, it is unfair and unreasonable,” reads the application.

It adds that “the respondents’ decision is contrary to the public policy of open competitive bidding, it is contrary to the basic principles of public procurement and disposal which include non-discrimination, transparency, accountability, fairness, maximization of competition, assurance of value for money and promotion of ethics among others.

Now, the Company contends that it has so far spent 340,000 dollars on employees and experts as a result of delayed procurement process and the liability has been allegedly communicated to the KCCA for discussion without any action being taken to address it.

Through their lawyers of Alaka and Company Advocates, Urban Living Limited wants the Court to quash the decision to cancel the procurement process such that its restored and a permanent injunction restraining KCCA and its agents from contracting any entity or provider to develop and operate an integrated on street parking management solution for KCCA outside the instant procurement process.

They are also seeking a compensation worth 340,000 Dollars (1.1billion shillings). KCCA is yet to be summoned to file its response to the allegations.

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URN