District leaders in Buliisa have expressed frustration over delays in the completion of key government projects, warning that more than Shs900 million allocated for the construction of Kihungya Seed Secondary School and Kihungya Health Centre III risks being returned to the Consolidated Fund.
The leaders blame the delays on the management of hybrid projects, whose contracts are awarded from Kampala, saying local authorities are often excluded from supervision and monitoring despite being held accountable for service delivery.
In Kihungya Sub-county, Kihungya Seed Secondary School has been under construction for three years despite an initial completion timeline of one year.
Similarly, Kihungya Health Centre III has remained under construction for two and a half years, far beyond its original one-year implementation period.
Initially, the health centre project was contracted to Berrtland Construction Company, which was reportedly paid Shs400 million before abandoning the project. The works were later taken over by Kadukos Investment Limited at a cost of Shs176 million.
District leaders, including Chief Administrative Officer Prof. Levi Musinguzi, District Chairperson Wandera Atuhairwe and Resident District Commissioner Longino Bahebwa, said contractors managing centrally awarded projects often refuse to cooperate with local authorities.
“Most often we never even know who the bosses are. You go to the site and workers tell you that you cannot enter unless you are authorised by our bosses, and these are always in Kampala. But then how can we be dealing with such people?” Bahebwa said.
Prof. Musinguzi said district leaders are frequently approached by individuals from Kampala seeking directions to project sites but are rarely given terms of reference or involved in project implementation.
“As the technical and district leaders, we are supposed to monitor these projects, but it is tricky. Most of them seem to be highly connected and cannot listen to us. It is the reason these projects are taking long and affecting our operations,” he said.
The district leaders also questioned the capacity of some contractors handling multiple projects across different districts.
For instance, they alleged that CMD Construction Company is implementing projects in Buliisa, Masindi, Kiryandongo and Kagadi districts using the same workforce, which is rotated from one site to another, resulting in abandoned works and prolonged delays.
“You have one contractor given a number of projects in different districts. Some of these contractors do not have the capacity, and what they do is keep rotating staff. You find that one month they are working in Buliisa, and the next month the site is abandoned. These projects were supposed to be completed in a year. It is now three years, and we are told they are at 65 percent completion, but our technical assessment indicates they may only be at 53 percent,” one of the leaders noted.
Bahebwa said district leaders are often blamed for poor service delivery despite having limited oversight over the projects.
The district now fears that more than Shs900 million could be returned to the Treasury because the projects will not be completed before the close of the financial year.
Kihungya Seed Secondary School still has about Shs680 million on its account, while Kihungya Health Centre III has more than Shs300 million remaining.
“The financial year is closing, so these funds will have to go back to the Consolidated Fund. We kept telling people to bring students to Kihungya Seed Secondary School, and they kept shifting them from one classroom to another as construction continued. It should have been completed long ago, and so should our Kihungya Health Centre III. But we have no way out because we do not supervise these contractors,” Bahebwa said.
The concerns were raised during a community baraza organised in Buliisa District by the Inspectorate of Government and anti-corruption crusaders from both government and non-government organisations.
Christine Lamwaka, the Manager for Advocacy and Capacity Building at the Inspectorate of Government, said the Inspectorate would follow up on the matter to ensure the projects are completed and communities receive the intended services.
“We understand the plight, so our offices in the region will keep in touch with Buliisa leaders and follow up with the contractors to ensure agreements are made and the projects are completed. There must be value for money, and projects must be completed on time,” Lamwaka said.
During the engagement, district leaders also highlighted concerns over the low recovery rate of Parish Development Model funds, continued harassment of fishermen on Lake Albert and staffing gaps in the health and education sectors.
The Inspectorate of Government's anti-corruption caravan is currently touring the Bunyoro sub-region, holding community barazas with leaders and residents to identify service delivery challenges and secure commitments from duty bearers to improve public services.
