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Uganda: Police Probes CHOGM Cars
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New Vision (Kampala)
8 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Madinah Tebajjukira
Kampala
THE Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the importation of BMW vehicles used during last year's Commonwealth meeting. This is after reports showed that the cars were flown in from France and were not of German make.
The suppliers, Motorcare had said the cars were imported from Germany
The select committee on CHOGM chaired by Onyango Kakoba (NRM), said controversy surrounded the authenticity of the vehicles.
"Whereas the Government insisted they were of German make, documents showed that they were air-lifted from France," read the report from the MPs.
The committee said sh24b was released to procure the vehicles and cater for other expenses.
A total of 23 ambulances were delivered late and lacked oxygen cylinders and resuscitation equipment, which the supplier had agreed to replace.
The report added that the Canine vehicle meant to transport sniffing dogs and the refrigerated van arrived after the meeting. The van was sent back because it had defects but was not replaced.
The committee got petitions from three transport companies threatening to sue the Government for loss of income arising out of an unclear accreditation system.
The transporters said the CHOGM sub-committee on transport gave them stickers that showed that they were to "pick and drop" delegates but the visitors refused to pay them.
The MPs recommended a value-for-money audit to be undertaken by the Auditor General on CHOGM projects that had raised suspicion.
It appealed to the Ministry of Works to expedite repairs on unfinished roads.
The report noted that shoddy work was done on some roads and others already had potholes.
The weather radar at Entebbe that was repaired in preparation for the summit at about sh500m broke down hardly a month after the event and is non-functional.
"Whereas the ministry attributed the breakdown to the obsolete technology whose spare could not easily be got, other people said unqualified personnel worked on it."
On accommodation, the committee noted that while the Government had projected that sh5.3b would be recovered from the delegates, few visitors came, leaving many rooms vacant.
The Government is set to recover $2.3m and Euros 20,562 from various hotels.
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A total of sh6.3b was released for beautifying the city and its neighbourhood during CHOGM.
But a few months after the summit, the flowers had been uprooted, garbage was littering the city and manhole covers were missing.
The MPs questioned the construction of 15 huts at the cultural village at the Uganda Museum at exorbitant costs ranging from sh7m to sh15m each. The huts, according to the report, were attacked by insects and are crumbling.
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