Ministry of Works completes contract negotiations with SGS

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Works and Transport has completed negotiations with Swiss company Societe Generale De Surveillance (SGS) on the new contract.

Permanent Secretary Wasswa Bageya says that they have submitted the contract to the Solicitor General for approval before it’s taken to the cabinet and then parliament.

SGS was awarded an exclusive five-year contract for vehicle inspection in Uganda in 2015.

A red flag was raised immediately after suspicion that some top officials in the Ministry of Works could have been paid to influence the winner and terms of the contract in favour of SGS.

The re-negotiations stem from an alarm raised in Parliament over charges for the inspection, ownership of SGS, and the lack of clarity on how the company would hand over to the government when its contract is spent.

Some Members of Parliament wanted inspection work to be left to traffic police. They also demanded that the contract be cancelled and a new investor sought. The Attorney General William Byaruhanga advised otherwise, saying the government might be forced to pay heavily in compensating the company.

Bageya said in the new contract, they have addressed issues of prices, likely to see initial fares slashed.

Also, he said, it has been made clear that the company will hand over the facilities to government when their contract expires, an issue that the old contract had been silent on.

When URN reporter visited several SGS installations, there were hardly any activities taking place despite remaining open for business.

An employee at the Nabbingo facility said a few people came once in a while. Mostly those buying cars used their facilities to test.

Bageya said they hope to complete all steps, including approval from cabinet and parliament by the end of the year.

With just a year to the expiry of the initial contract, the re-negotiations mean the company will be handed a fresh five-year term to recoup its investments.

The company had constructed seven inspection facilities and shipped in mobile ones to aid in vehicle inspection.

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URN