Agago petitions Solicitor General over contractor
What you need to know:
- In October 2021, Agago District awarded Handy Services Ltd a one-year contract to construct the Lukole satellite market at Shs567m under the Project for the Restoration of Livelihoods in the Northern Region (PRELNOR). But the firm abandoned the site before completion of works.
Agago District leaders have petitioned the Solicitor General, seeking a hand in the recovery of Shs113 million from a contractor who was banished without completing work.
On April 19, Mr Abdulnoor Muwonge Mbagwa, the district chief administrative officer, said the district is struggling to recover the Shs113 mmillion of the Shs200m it advanced to Handy Services Ltd for the construction of Lukole Satellite Market.
“We have written to the Solicitor General, asking him to institute a legal case against this contractor, and we are yet to get feedback, but I know they have received my letter instructing them to take action against the contractor,” Mr Muwonge said in an interview.
He said they are meeting the Solicitor General next week to discuss the way forward.
Mr Muwonge said the contractor immediately abandoned the site at slab level after the district gave him the advance payment.
“And since I am a new CAO, I tried to find out where he is, but we could not get him; his phones were off,” Mr Muwonge said.
In October 2021, Agago District awarded Handy Services Ltd a one-year contract to construct the Lukole satellite market at Shs567m under the Project for the Restoration of Livelihoods in the Northern Region (PRELNOR). But the firm abandoned the site before completion of works.
According to the CAO, the district engaged the facility’s funders and the Ministry of Local Government to permit them to complete the works using force-on-account funds.
“So we were permitted to do the work depending on the amount of money we have, and that is how we were able to engage another contractor and finish the works,” he said.
“Now the task is to trace that man and recover the government resources he took in advance,” he added.
In an earlier December 12, 2023, letter addressed to the CAO, Ms Anne Twinomugisha Muhaire, the deputy Inspector General of Government, instructed the district to institute measures to recover the funds from the contractor.
“You are directed to institute a civil proceeding to recover the 30 percent performance advance amounting to Shs113,576,798 that was paid to Handy Services Ltd. from the company,” Ms Muhairwe directed in her letter.
On May 4, 2023, the district terminated the contract with Handy Services Ltd, following advice from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA).
Attempts to contact Mr Denis Olara, the director of Handy Services Limited, for a comment over allegations of abandoning work upon receiving part payment were futile. His known telephone contacts were unavailable.
