Mayor Lukwago raises alarm over 'gang syndicate' behind roads funds

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Director, Dorothy Kisaka, recently announced that road works will commence in February to the tune Shs1 trillion received from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Development Fund.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Mayor Lukwago said the cost of the road works is overblown to cater for "mafias and cartel" determined to frustrate his efforts to expose their embezzlement.

“For the 31 African Development Bank funded roads lined up for construction this year, they constitute 69km at a cost of shs1 trillion which translates to each kilometer being constructed at a whooping shs14.4billion.

What baffles us are the large quantities of bills and inflated unit costs.

This is ridiculous a cost for the construction of these road.

It is outrageous. It means during our lifetime, we shall never finish constructing the roads in Kampala.”

He then revealed that his team was behind the stalling of construction on roads over similar concerns to the ADB. 

The ADB team intervened and halted the works which consequently led the public coming up in arms over the state of roads. According to Lukwago, the disgruntled public was simply windfall for the "mafias" because pressure was on ADB to release the money once again.

“There is a cartel involving proxies of the regime and functionaries within the system at KCCA We have been fighting this cartel for quite a long time.

They are within the central government, here within the institution (KCCA) and outside the institution.

This money is given with one hands and taken away with another.”

Lukwago said he took the matters to the Inspector General of Government Beti Kamya. Her team visited the City Hall where he handed them evidence on the matter.

“Ask IGG Beti Kamya and her two deputies.

They came here and handed over this same information to them and we requested for action to be taken.

Since then we have been asking for a follow up but the cartels are determined to deal with us.

The cartels are there in the central government,” Lukwago said.

However, his concerns appear to have been sidelined under what he says is the "arm of the cartel syndicate".

“We got a heap of documents we submitted to the IGG and expected investigations to commence but started hearing stories inside there(IGG’s office). Now they have seated on our petition to them.”

said no amount of explanation can justify the inflated cost of the roads that he said is rather a scheme by some individuals to siphon the taxpayer’s money.

“There has been attempt to justify this huge cost but it stinks. We have the highest cost defeating even those areas where the terrain is difficult to navigate. We are not constructing in mountainous areas like Kisoro that we have to navigate around those terrains. What explains this inflated cost?”

According to Lukwago, the "mountains" that justify these costs are the people determined to swindle funds through the process.