Maverick Mukono Municipality legislator Betty Nambooze has resurrected Energo Projekt troubles and also placed Gen Edward Katumba Wamala the senior Minister for Works and Transport and Finance Planning and Economic Development Minister Matia Kasaija on spot.
Nambooze narrated that when he was still the chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances, he smelt a rotten rat when Energo Construction company was awarded a contract to carry out maintenance on 72-kilometre Kampala Jinja Highway within a period of 12 months.
Nambooze disclosed that she knew that Energo did not have the capacity to do the work.
She disclosed that she first established that the company which was awarded the contract worth Shs82bn had been already blacklisted by the World Bank in 2012 and governments and other stakeholders were placed on alert to deal with them at their own risk.
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Nambooze claimed that the World Bank cited a number of allegations against Energo company including the involvement of their top directors and staff in corruption practices when competing for contracts. A number of governments decided to cancel all deals which they had signed with the company.
She explained that she was shocked to see Ugandan government awarding such the same company a contract to do maintenance on one of the most important roads in the country which connects Uganda to countries like Kenya. She added that to her shock, both ministers declined to appear before her committee and decided to send their juniors who were escorted by former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) boss Allen Kagina.
She narrated that upon failing to answer their questions on why government awarded such a big contract to a blacklisted company, Musa Echweru the junior minister who led the delegation instead boasted insisting that the company has the capacity to do the work.
However, since 2023 when the contract was awarded, the company has not yet finished the work even though they were given only 12 months which expired in 2024.
Nambooze claimed that the slow work on the road has cost Ugandans a lot because they spend a lot of time on the road coming to Kampala to work and going back home, landlords have lost tenants because of the bad road, schools have lost students and pupils due to the bad roads.
She tasked president Museveni as the head of government to come out and tell the public why a questionable company was awarded a contract when there are competent construction companies.
However, when the road was still under the supervision of UNRA, Kagina told parliament that the company has the capacity even though it was blacklisted
