The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority – UCAA is on the spot for allegedly ignoring procurement laws in the Entebbe Airport Expansion project.
This was revealed by Levy Musinguzi, a former employee of the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), that was awarded a 703 Billion Shillings contract to upgrade and do expansion works.
Musinguzi, who at the time was serving CCCC as the Assistant Business Development Manager was appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) on Tuesday.
He told the Committee that the contractor took control of working on Kampala-Entebbe Expressway to solicit for a deal to expand the Entebbe Airport, a deal Government fell for without scrutiny.
Musinguzi said the award of contract for the airport expansion works did not undergo the normal procurement chain of 160 days, and that the contract had no tender documents as required in the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority – PPDA Act, 2003.
“There were no tender documents which were supposed to be generated by UCAA and Ministry of Works. If anyone claims there was such, they should avail the list of those who participated in the tender processes if not only CCCC that had been brought on board,” Musinguzi said.
The meeting turned chaotic when, Zheng Biao, the CCCC Country Manager in Uganda denied Musinguzi worked on documentation of the Entebbe airport expansion project. Zhen said he recalls Musinguzi only conducting secretarial duties such as photocopying documents.
“All I know is that he did general work in an office like photocopying documents,” said Zheng.
Nathan Itungo, the Kashari South County in Mbarara District asked what other duties Musinguzi carried out during his four years at CCCC. An irritated Musinguzi responded that he will table before Parliament his qualification credentials regarding his duties with CCCC.
Musinguzi further informed MPs that he resigned from CCCC after knowing the contractor was trying to bid for another contract with a fictitious company for the 41km Masaka-Bukakata Road in Masaka District.
The Committee Chairperson Joel Ssenyonyi, also the Nakawa West MP adjourned the meeting and demanded that CCA and CCCC submit more documents to facilitate further inquiries into the project.
CAA launched the expansion project in 2015 with a scheduled completion date of 2023 for the first phase and 2033 for the whole project covering cargo area 300 by 400 meters in measurement to enable heavier output in the cargo business of up to 100,000 metric tons annually.
