Overview:
Presenting the report, committee chairperson Mwine Mpaka said money intended to restore Uganda’s railway system and build local technical capacity was instead used to benefit individual consultants and foreign companies.
KAMPALA. Parliament has exposed widespread financial mismanagement, procurement irregularities and loss of railway assets at Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), including more than 100 wagons that cannot be accounted for and thousands of acres of railway land under encroachment.
The House adopted the report of the Committee on Physical Infrastructure on Thursday, with MPs accusing those entrusted with reviving the railway of diverting public resources while the corporation’s infrastructure and fleet deteriorated.
Presenting the report, committee chairperson Mwine Mpaka said money intended to restore Uganda’s railway system and build local technical capacity was instead used to benefit individual consultants and foreign companies.
“We have established a systematic failure where public funds meant to build local railway capacity and rehabilitate critical transport infrastructure were instead deployed to enrich individual consultants and foreign firms under the guise of technical expertise,” Mr Mpaka said.
The inquiry focused in part on a Shs125 billion Spanish-funded railway project, which included Shs20.8 billion for capacity building.
The committee found that nearly 90 per cent of the capacity-building funds, equivalent to €4.33 million, went to five foreign experts. Some were paid as much as €32,500, or about Shs140 million, a month.
The committee further found that some URC employees were allegedly listed as foreign experts to access the higher remuneration while continuing to receive their local salaries of about Shs6.5 million.
It also questioned the procurement process after Consultrans S.A.U, the Spanish company that conducted the feasibility study and assessed URC’s capacity needs, later secured the works contract for its sister company, Imathia Construction, through direct procurement.
Other findings included the downgrading of multi-day training workshops into one-day refresher courses and claims of €79,500 for overseas back-office travel.
The report also found that project-funded second-hand pickup trucks were sold to staff, while €60,000 budgeted for office furniture was used to furnish offices occupied by Spanish consultants.
Missing wagons
The committee raised concern over URC’s inability to account for parts of its rolling stock.
Mr Mpaka said the corporation could not fully account for its land, titles and wagons, warning that the disappearance and disposal of railway assets could attract criminal liability.
“URC cannot account for its own land, its land titles or its rolling stock,” he said.
The report found that 112 wagons remain unaccounted for after they were routed to a “virtual station” in Nyahururu, Kenya, under the tracking system used by the former Rift Valley Railways.
It further established that URC sold 152 wagons locally as scrap and another 28 in Tanzania, but records could not account for 82 of the wagons, resulting in an estimated Shs2.4 billion financial loss.
Parliament has directed the Inspectorate of Government to investigate and prosecute members of URC’s Ad hoc Board of Survey, Contracts Committee and Procurement and Disposal Unit implicated in the alleged irregular disposal of scrap wagons.
The IGG was also tasked with investigating former URC managing director David Musoke Bulega, contract managers and other members of management over payments for services that were allegedly not delivered, questionable travel claims, unprocured software, vehicle misappropriation and contractual arrangements that resulted in URC losing ownership of a concrete sleeper plant.
Railway land
The committee also found that URC owns 20,848 acres of land, of which 1,983 acres remain untitled.
More than 24,653 cases of encroachment have been recorded on the corporation’s land, according to the report.
Mr Mpaka said 62 railway land titles that were misplaced by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development during office relocations had not been returned despite repeated reminders dating back to 2016.
Parliament has directed the Ministries of Lands and Works and Transport to prepare a joint railway-land recovery strategy within 30 days.
The strategy is expected to provide for the recovery of the land and removal of 1,698 identified encroachers, with police and military support where necessary.
Rail network deteriorates
The inquiry paints a picture of a railway system operating far below its potential.
Only 269km of URC’s 1,266km network is currently operational, while fleet availability stands at 22 per cent for locomotives, 36 per cent for coaches and 30 per cent for operational wagons.
The figures have raised concern as government seeks to shift more cargo from roads to rail in an effort to reduce road damage and transport costs.
The Minister of State for Transport, Julius Maganda, acknowledged the extent of the corporation’s decline but said government had begun efforts to revive the railway.
“Completely everything went down… Government is beginning to uplift Uganda Railways. Look at the report but support the agency because we are now moving in the right direction,” he said.
Kalungu West MP Joseph Ssewungu called for openness and frankness in the discussions surrounding the rehabilitation of the railway.
Speaker Jacob Markson Oboth urged the ministry to replace URC’s ageing passenger coaches and increase the frequency of services.
“Replace those old coaches. I want to use that train to come to Parliament. We need some coaches. I have a stage just by my house,” he said.
The Executive is expected to respond to Parliament’s recommendations through a Treasury Memorandum.