Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
NEWS
www.newvision.co.ug
SPECIAL REPORT
LAND BATTLE: Sh47.7b advanced to contractors for property compensations was unaccounted for as of June 30 last year
The Mukono-Katosi road. Investigations established that sh361.7m was approved by the Chief Government Valuer for
compensation of land and property for the Mukono-Katosi road beneficiaries
bank and get some money to look
after the orphans. One of the children
is at university, but I have no fees.
I expected to get some money and
pay, but it is not coming through,
lamented Kyeyune, herself a mother
of five.
Although some beneficiaries of the
Mukono-Katosi road have already
been compensated, Kyeyune and
her family are among hundreds
of other beneficiaries who are still
waiting for their pay. And this is not
the only UNRA road project where
compensation has delayed.
I have been to
UNRA offices in
Kyambogo, Kampala
several times, but
they keep on tossing
me. Do they want me
to die as well?
Suspicious compensation
Investigations show that some of
the money meant for compensation
was paid to wrong persons,
while other cash could not be
accounted for. A total of sh47.7b
advanced to various contractors for
property compensations remained
unaccounted for as of June 30 last
year.
UNRA financial statements
indicated that the advances were
based on valuation reports approved
by the Chief Government Valuer.
However, sh6.5b advanced to an
international engineering firm for
WHAT IS THE UGANDA NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY DOING TO REMEDY THE SITUATION?
On March 22, UNRA launched a six-month exercise to
verify the authenticity of titles and owners of land
affected by 20 major road projects implemented in
various parts of the country.
Thereafter, UNRA and the lands ministry will
process for landlords residual titles for part of
their land, which was not affected by the road
construction projects. Verification takes place at
UNRAs offices in Kyambogo, a city suburb.
Launching the exercise, UNRAs head of corporate
change management, Belinda Komuntale, said it will
also involve verifying the rightful land owners who
were compensated and validity of their titles.
Over 2,000 residual land titles will be processed
for land lords affected by projects at UNRAs cost,
15
NEWS
www.newvision.co.ug
SPECIAL REPORT
PROJECT COMPENSATIONS?
Investigations point to delayed
compilation of data by
UNRA, land disputes among
beneficiaries, contestation
of valuation figures by
beneficiaries and corruption
as the causes of delayed
payment.
Sunday Vision has
established that the
restructuring at UNRA, where
all staff were sacked, also
contributed to the delayed
compensation since some of
the processes had to be started
afresh. As a result, UNRA
asked most beneficiaries to resubmit their documents.
Besides, some beneficiaries
talked to reported being asked
for a commission if their pay
was to be expedited. Some
officials were asking us to
forfeit up to 10% of our pay
so as to help us expedite
the process. Some of our
colleagues who complied
got their money, said a
beneficiary in Ngogwe town,
on the Mukono-Katosi road.
In communities where
more than one person claims
ownership of land affected
by the project, UNRA has to
wait for resolution of disputes
in courts of law, thus also
delaying compensation. This
was the case on the Entebbe
Expressway, where Madhvani
Group of Companies was in
dispute with former Nakawa
mayor Benjamin Kalumba
over land in Kajjansi, Wakiso
district.
Northern Bypass. Work is ongoing on the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway and Kampala Northern Bypass
Kanungu road, saying; One of
the affected landlords on the
Kanungu side of the bridge
had taken the contractor to
court for carrying on works
in his land before being
compensated. This implied
that works could not go on in
the contested area. This was
likely to cause project delays.
KAMPALA-MITYANA
ROAD
The High Court in Kampala in
January this year ordered for
a fresh valuation of properties
that belonged to people
affected by the construction of
the 56.7km Kampala-Mityana
road.
Work on the road started in
2009 and ended around 2013,
but over 1,000 people are yet
to be compensated.
Spencon and Stirling
jointly worked on 30.18km
of the road from Busega
to Muduuma, while Dott
Services worked on the
26.6km Muduuma-Mityana
stretch.
ROAD REPORTS
ON DELAYS
According to the Roads
Sector Annual Monitoring
Reports for the past four years,
compensation of projectaffected persons keeps coming
up as an unmet target. The
2014/15 report noted that
the new requirement for Tax
Identification Numbers (TIN)
affected the pace of land and
property compensation.
The reports indicate that
on all projects, delayed
compensation has affected
projects completion periods
and it has sometimes resulted
into an increase in project
costs, where contractors claim
an increase in the cost of
materials and charge for time
lost.
The 2013/14 road sector
report cited the 30km
Nsangi-Kamengo stretch on
the Kampala-Masaka road
that had all pavement and
earthworks completed, except
at Maya, where compensation
issues had prevented the
contractor from carrying
out any work on a 650m
section of the road.
It also cited the
Birara bridge on the
Rukungiri-BiraraUNRA executive director Allen Kagina
VURRA-ARUA-KOBOKOORABA ROAD
In Arua, over 50 people
affected by the Vurra-AruaKoboko-Oraba road have not
been compensated yet they
lost property, including houses
and farmland, during the road
construction launched in 2011.
The road affected the people
of Vurra, Dadamu, Oli and
Aroi sub-counties.
While visiting the
beneficiaries on March 11,
Juliet Oyela, an official from
UNRA, promised that the
residents would be paid,
arguing that their names were
compiled late.
MBARARA BYPASS
Several beneficiaries of the
Mbarara Bypass project
have to date not yet been
compensated, notable
among them is the National
Agricultural Research
Organisation (NARO).
According to the Auditor
General, UNRA owes NARO
sh1.836b in compensation
for land affected by the road
works on the Mbarara Bypass.
Negotiations for compensation
were reported to be still going
on.
MASAKA-BUKAKATA
Compensation of persons
affected by the 36km
Masaka-Bukakata road
project has also dragged on.
Former works minister Eng.
Abraham Byandala had earlier
announced that works would
commence in 2012, but it
delayed allegedly due to lack
of funds.
In a recent notice, however,
UNRA urged the affected
persons to report with all
necessary documentation for
verification starting on April 4.
The lists of beneficiaries
were pinned at the respective
10 village councils for
verification.
ACTIVITY
PUBLISHING OF BID NOTICE
BID OPENING
BID CLOSING
BID EVALUATION
COMMUNICATION TO BIDDERS
AWARD AND SIGNING OF CONTRACT
DATE
01st May, 2016 30th May, 2016
30th May, 2016
30th May, 2016
31st May, 2016 03rd June, 2016
04th June, 2016 17th June, 2016
20th June, 2016 01st July, 2016