The construction of the proposed Lango cultural palace is yet to start 18- months after it was launched. on January 25th, 2021, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) contracted CMD Investment Limited to undertake the construction of the seat of Lango cultural foundation comprising the administration block, a cultural center, and a palace within a period of 18 months at Shillings 3.9Bn.
In February, the then deputy speaker of Parliament the late Jacob Oulanyah launched the construction on behalf of the president by laying the foundation stone. However, since then, no work has been done on the ground. Najjuma Christine Nalima Sebyala, the Managing Director of CMD, blames the delays on the OPM, which says has failed to avail them of the architectural drawings needed to start the work.
“At the time of signing the contract, the employer did not attach construction drawings though they were mentioned as documents that form part of the contract and therefore soon after commencement, we requested the employer to provide us with clear detailed construction drawings to enable us to proceed with works,” she said.
Nalima wrote to the prime minister and copied the Attorney General and the Director of Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets in July calling for collective intervention to enable the execution of the contract.
“We have written various letters to the employer and to date no response has been received apart from a few responses that are totally diversionary to our requests. The Consultant unofficially presented to us construction drawings and were never owned by the employer and besides, they were totally divergent to the original scope of works by over 10 times bigger and this was contrary to the kind of contract (Lump sum) we have with the employer,” the letter reads.
Adding that “We could not carry out works that are 10 times bigger than the works we quoted for at the same original contract value. The kind of contract we have with the employer does not allow for Major changes to the original contract scope and there was no approval of the employer of the change of kind of contract to allow for such changes. Failure of the employer to commit itself in this contract is the major cause of this contract nonperformance.”
A source from the OPM confirmed the problem, saying the initial contract designs had loopholes that could have affected the outcome of the work, a reason why they are making adjustments to the designs so that work can begin. According to the source, Lira District Local Government and Lango Cultural Foundation were officially notified about the gaps and the work will begin no later than September this year.
“When Lango cultural Foundation was lobbying for this, they got an architect who did a job that was not good and the contractor and consultant said (no) there are a lot of defects on the design so it needs to be sorted out. It is being adjusted to fix the issues that other people raised unfortunately it has taken a bit of time, but for the two (both contractor and consultant) to be comfortable they need that readjustment here and there.”
Add that “It looked good on the surface but the structural part; the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing were not nicely designed, they were not conclusive- there was a lot of loopholes so you don’t want to give a contractor such a shabby design and then expect a good job.” Robert Ajal, the Prime Minister of Lango Cultural Foundation declined to comment on the matter, saying he needed time to make consultations.
