Category Archives: Politics

Dear President Museveni, As You Swear in, Remember …

Posted on May 9, 2016 | 2 comments

Dear Mr. President!

It is under four days to your inauguration as our President for yet another 5 years. Congratulations are in order for this is no mean achievement! Best wishes too for a fruitful and prosperous term not just for you but for us as a nation.

As you start your new term in office, I want to bring to your attention a story that appeared in the press recently. Speaking at the closing of a meeting of District Engineers from across the country; State Minister for transport Dr.Steven Chebrot said in his own words and I quote; ” Government would ensure value for the taxpayers’ money. The new supplier is competent, professional and has the capacity to supply the heavy road equipment within the specified time. It is unfortunate that it is an extra cost to all of us Ugandans including myself,” This was in apparent reference to the new equipment Government is acquiring for Districts to replace the non functional equipment bought less than 5 years at the cost of US$100m from China!

Your Excellency; this mode of working should not continue in your new term of office! From the Ministers statement, it appears that the supplier of the Chinese was incompetent; unprofessional and lacked capacity. How then did they get a US$100m contract to supply equipment to the Government of Uganda?

I have previously expressed in similar write ups to you, that the whole notion of Government owning equipment and doing road works by its self has been tried before in Uganda and has not worked. There is no reason why we should go that route again because it simply does not work!!

The above notwithstanding, I find it odd that Government could spend US$100m on equipment that is found not fit for purpose and no one is held responsible. The following questions should come to mind regarding the procurement of this Chinese equipment;

1. Was there a contract between FaW China (The Supplier) and Government or was the equipment ordered by word of mouth?

2. If there was a contract, did the contract include a warranty for the equipment or not? If there was; has Govt exercised its rights under the warranty? Who is responsible for this?

3. And if there was no provision for a warranty in the Contract, who is responsible for this gross omission that is costing tax payers so much money? How do you buy equipment for USD100m without any form of warranty?

4. Did the contract include specifications for the equipment or it did not? If it did was there pre and post shipment inspection to check for compliance with the specifications? If inspection was done, who was responsible for it and why did they accept the equipment if it did not meet the specifications?

5. Is it possible that the equipment was poorly specified such that even if it met the specifications it would still not be suited for purpose? Who was responsible for prepping these specifications and why have they not been held responsible?

6. Is it also possible that Government did not have any specifications and the supplier was left to their own device to decide what they should supply? If that was the case; who should be held responsible for this omission?

7. Did FaW just promise to build service centres for this equipment or it was a contractual obligation? If it was a contractual obligation, why have they not met it and what has Government done about it?!

Your Excellency, this and many other wasteful transactions shall seriously impede our steady progress not only in the roads sector but in other sectors as well. It is therefore important that in your new term, persons responsible are brought to book. It is hard to believe that Government, can simply write off USD100m?! There is so much acute need in our country we surely cannot afford such waste!

Contributed by Anthony Mark Mondo via WhatsApp

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President Museveni, Some advice on Roads

Posted on April 25, 2016 | 2 comments

Dear Mr. President!

I am hoping that this finds you well!

In a few days; you will be sworn in as our President for yet another 5 years. I do not know if you are excited about the new term in office as some of us are; I will for the purpose of this note, assume that you are, perhaps even more than I am.

I am excited about the new term of office because you have promised us so many good things; things that should change for the better, the life of the ordinary Ugandan.

I implore you Mr. President; to start doing these good things by changing the way we do things because we cannot do things the same way and expect change.

For instance in the roads sector; if we are to achieve any meaningful development; we must….

1. Reduce the cost of building and maintaining roads; so that we are able to build more roads using the same resources. This is one thing that Govt can very easily do but has simply ignored or refused to do.

2. Must empower the local road construction industry so that we build its capacity. It hurts our economy when all the money spent building roads finds its way out of the country because all the work is done by foreign companies; some of whom are actually fake. It is hard to believe that Eutaw on the Katosi road is an isolated case!!

It is absurd to say the least, that in 30years of steady progress, we have failed to build just one local contractor to international standard. Clearly there is something not right!

Continuing to ignore this industry the way the NRM Govt has done over the years, is a great disservice to the people of Uganda.

It has been common place for all your Ministers for Works to state at every chance they get, that the problem with the local contractors is that they have no experience and capacity. Three questions I have for these Ministers are;
a)  If a contractor has been building murram roads for 40years; where will he get the experience on tarmac roads if you his only employer will not accord him the chance?

b) How can a contractor build capacity for building tarmac roads when they have no assurance for a job? Those that have tried have ended up with bank loans that they cannot pay!!

c) Where do they think the foreign companies fake or otherwise that come here got their experience from? Were they incorporated with this experience?

The benefits of a strong local road construction industry to a developing country like ours cannot be over emphasized.

3. We must adopt different methods of road construction best suited to our culture of having poor or no maintenance regimes for our roads.

4. We must adopt different maintenance regimes for our roads so that there is sustainable expenditure in the sector. Its baffling to see the bitumen or gravel on a road being eaten away by rain water because the maintenance cycles we have now do not provide for regular routine maintenance.

5. Abandon schemes that involve Govt taking over the construction and maintenance of roads in whatever form.

The reality is that these schemes have been tried before and they did not work, they simply resulted in the wastage of public resources! To that end, they simply cannot be justified.

Government needs to build meaningful and sustainable partnerships with the private sector in order to deliver on the roads.

Mr. President, I wish you all the best in your new term of office and I look forward to real change in the way we do things. That is the only way we shall be able to produce real results that speak for themselves in this and other sectors such as the health sector!

Contributed by Anthony Mark Mondo via WhatsApp

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Posted in Politics