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KCCA accuses Lukwago of politicising SFC road deal
Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago and KCCA deputy executive director Eng David Luyimbazi. PHOTO/COMBO
What you need to know:
- KCCA and the army accuse city mayor Erias Lukwago of politicizing to block development in Kampala.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the army have accused city mayor Erias Lukwago of politicizing a move in which the presidential guard unit was handed a multi-billion deal to improve roads in Uganda’s capital.
On Tuesday, KCCA deputy executive director Eng David Luyimbazi called out Lukwago for “always trying to block development by raising accusations for his own political benefit.”
“Whenever we are trying to advance service delivery, Lukwago accuses us of inflating costs. When we start to utilize the savings, then we are accused of stealing money. If we don’t stop politicizing service delivery in the city, we shall have serious issues,” he responded to Lukwago’s allegations that KCCA is plotting to divert Shs250billion from African Development Bank (ADB) for the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project (KCRRP)- and allocate the Special Command Forces (SFC) to reconstruct roads.
KCCA is now urging Lukwago to work with all stakeholders to improve Kampala’s image.
Addressing journalists yesterday, Lukwago claimed he received information that “Eng Luyimbazi and division mayors led by Dr Emmanuel Sserunjoji are moving to approve the allocation of Shs250b to the SFC Construction Regiment (SFCCR).”
However, Eng Luyimbazi dismissed the allegations noting that “the Shs250billion saved from KCRRP following the KCCA’s robust procurement audit will be used to build more roads.”
Dr Sserunjoji has since described Lukwago’s accusation as “politics of malice and character assassination.”
“I think the mayor is just annoyed because the division mayors participated in choosing the roads to be worked on using the available balance on KCRRP funds,” he said.
Lukwago insists that the army “has done substandard work on various construction projects around the city.”
Reacting to Lukwago’s remarks, UPDF deputy spokesperson Co Deo AkiikI said: “UPDF [specifically SFC] is fully capable of fixing the city roads although there have been some delays caused by bad weather. It is too early to judge SFC’s capacity because the engineers just embarked on the projects less than a month ago.”
“It is also not true that SFC is not equipped, of all the equipment we are using, only two pick-up vans that belong to KCCA and we hope that soon our vehicles will be here and ready to use,” he added.
Col Akiiki further explained that priority will be put on roads mostly used by President Museveni.
