Prime
Shs182b police crime lab project hits snag
What you need to know:
- The construction of the RRFC has been long overdue after the East African Community security ministers during their meeting in Kigali,Rwanda in 2012 resolved it be hosted by Uganda.
- Speaker Rebecca Kadaga outlined conditions that must be met by the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, and, the Attorney General before the House debates the report and subsequently sanctions the contract.
The construction of a multibillion East African Regional Referral Forensic Centre (RRFC) and a state of the art police headquarters in Kampala face a false start after Parliament halted the project pending investigations.
Although the House Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs had cleared the project on Wednesday, one of the committee members petitioned Parliament in a minority report alleging that the committee chaired by Ms Doreen Amule, the Amolatar Woman (NRM) MP, ignored the illegalities in the tripartite contract between Tip Top Investments Ltd, a Chinese firm and government of Uganda.
Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi’s minority report claims that the Uganda Land Commission and the Uganda Police Force ignored the Office of the Attorney General by signing the agreement for the implementation of the construction works with Tip Top Investments Ltd, a Chinese firm that won the contract.
“The close look of the agreement does not indicate that it was perused by the Attorney General or his officers or being responsible for drawing it. It was entered by the parties without legal capacity to do so,” he said.
“Uganda Police Force has no capacity to enter any agreement of commercial nature that binds the country without the Attorney General as a party. Therefore this agreement is illegal hence null and void,” he added.
Daily Monitor understands that the tripartite agreement entered by the Chinese firm, Uganda Land Commission together with Uganda Police Force, provides that Tip Top Investments Ltd would do the construction work.
The agreement
Tip Top Investments Ltd is supposed to construct the regional Forensic Centre at Shs72b, equip it at Shs18b, construct the police headquarters at Shs36b and the police officers’ accommodation units at Shs54b in exchange, Uganda Land Commission is supposed to leave part of the police land at Naguru for private development where the Chinese firm wants to establish a “mini-city”.
But Mr Kivumbi accused the committee of failing to detect a move to defraud the government of its land by recommending the sanctioning of a contract which provides that Tip Top Investments Ltd will only construct and equip the forensic laboratory whose cost is Shs90b.
“The government valuer estimated the total value of 60 acres of land that the company is interested in at Shs180b. It is being traded-off at Shs90b. The attempt to persuade the House with information not backed by any evidence is embarrassing. It is sufficient ground for Parliament to reject this transaction,” Mr Kivumbi noted.
Some of the MPs including Dokolo Woman MP Celilia Ogwal and Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi suggested that with the findings presented in the minority report, the rest of the Committee members who signed the main report be investigated by the Rules, Privileges and Discipline committee for allegedly forging the recommendations.
Ms Amule who only surfaced after the report was presented in her absence by Buhaguzi County MP Daniel Muhairwe, failed to convince the House even after she tabled some of the documents that would back up the recommendations.
Conditions set
On Wednesday, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga outlined conditions that must be met by the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, and, the Attorney General before the House debates the report and subsequently sanctions the contract.
She also observed that the documents laid on table by the committee chairperson were wanting hence deferring the matter until the Committee furnishes the house with proper information.
“I have looked at the minutes which have been presented but they are incomplete because all pages are not there, they don’t contain much, they are very limited in information and the chair has not signed them,” the Speaker said.
She added: “There is something wrong. So, I propose that we defer this matter until you produce the minutes, produce the agreement, the report of due diligence and the AG should come here.”
Resolution
The construction of the RRFC has been long overdue after the East African Community security ministers during their meeting in Kigali,Rwanda in 2012 resolved it be hosted by Uganda.
RRFC is the brain child of the Council of East African Police Chiefs who indicated a need for it to help in investigating high level crime that has been rocking the region.
