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Uganda: Rafu Requires Serious Overhaul
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The Monitor (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 15 May 2008
It's quite disheartening looking at the colossal billions of shillings lost in inflated road construction costs in connivance between the Road Agency Formation Unit (Rafu), a government agency, and the contractors.
According to the briefing given to the President by experts last year, contract prices per kilometre for 14 road projects between 2000 and 2006, has more than tripled. On three roads alone, of less than 170kms (in total) the government lost at least Shs20b.
On the strength of this briefing the president instructed the Minister of Works and Transport, who is also an engineer, to investigate the issue. Rafu management attributed the high costs of road construction to the increase in diesel on the world market.
The president rightly calls this "unacceptable robbery." We do accept that prices of oil have been rising over the years. But honestly the upward fluctuations of the oil prices cannot justify the triple increases in the road construction.
It's quite puzzling to understand how a cost per kilometre of road calculated by an engineering consultant in the same field can rise three or even four times within the contract period which in some cases is less than two years.
This is a clear case of outright theft of taxpayers' money in connivance between the contractors and the contract awarding authorities. Rafu has been variously accused of being either negligent or incompetent on several road projects.
The roads under its supervision are usually either poorly done or overshoot their contract period. Because Rafu does not make effective supervision to ensure contractors complete the road projects in the stipulated period, in most cases prices for various equipment and materials for the road construction change over time, thereby causing unexpected additional cost which leads to review of the contract value. But in several other cases, the contractors do not do what is expected of them under the contract and Rafu just does not intervene.
A good example is the Northern Bypass. The contractor was supposed to work on the access roads. But the contractor just dug up the roads and left gaping trenches, completely cutting off the residents from their homes. The project is now behind schedule and what the public is hearing are incomprehensible explanations by Rafu why the construction has stalled.
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The president must act tough. This chronic haemorrhage of public funds must stop.
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