By 8 am on Tuesday, August 11, legislators on Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure, chaired by Mwine Mpaka, had arrived at Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) headquarters in Kampala for a fact-finding visit into the operations of the corporation and the use of €60,000 (Shs 257 million) allocated for refurbishment and related activities.
The committee is seeking to establish how the money, which was provided through a project involving Spain, was spent and what was achieved with it.
URC managing director Benon Kajuna told the MPs that part of the money was used to refurbish offices that had been occupied by Spanish staff who trained URC employees.
He said the funds were also used to purchase 30 desktop computers and laptops to support the corporation’s operations.
Some of the money was further spent on replacing damaged ceiling sections at the premises.
However, the committee raised questions about the availability of the computers and laptops that URC said had been purchased.
The committee’s vice-chairperson, William Tiyo Oda, expressed concern after MPs found only eight of the 30 computers and laptops at the URC premises during their visit.
The MPs asked URC officials to provide the complete bills of quantities and other supporting documents showing the items that were procured and the works that were carried out using the €60,000.
The committee also questioned the registration of two pickup vehicles belonging to URC. MPs noted that the vehicles, registration numbers UA 094DD and UA 487DF, were bearing private number plates.
The committee is expected to seek clarification from URC officials on the status and registration of the vehicles.
After inspecting the URC headquarters, the MPs boarded a train and travelled towards Kyetume in Mukono to assess the condition of the railway infrastructure along the route.
The committee made several stops along the way to inspect different sections of the railway line and assess ongoing works.
During the journey, MPs were shown works in which old steel railway sleepers are being replaced with concrete sleepers.
URC officials said about 26 kilometres of the railway line between Kampala and Mukono had so far been fitted with the new concrete sleepers.
The inspection is part of the committee’s wider effort to assess the state of Uganda’s railway infrastructure, how URC is operating and how public resources allocated to railway projects are being used.
The MPs are expected to consider the information and documents provided by URC before making their findings and recommendations.
