An association of building and civil engineers under their umbrella body, Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC), has written to President Yoweri Museveni over mega contracts given to the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) Engineering Brigade.
Recently, President Museveni directed that construction projects in schools and hospitals be awarded to the UPDF to cut on corruption, delays in procurement processes and that the move is aimed at cutting costs.
However, UNABCEC in their 3-page letter say improving transparency in public procurement and regulation of the industry has better ways that will enable co-existence of the private and public sectors in construction.
UNABCEC’s letter is dated October 1, 2021 and is jointly signed by JamesOne Olonya (President, UNABCEC) and Elizabeth Muhebwa (Executive Director).
Read the letter verbatim
Uganda National Association of Building & Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC) is a 28-year-old organization dedicated to fostering growth and sustainability, improving job site safety, expanding the use of cutting-edge technologies and techniques, and strengthening the relationships in the construction Industry. The Association currently consists of 386 Member
Firms and growing.
The Association has learnt of your communication dated 1 July 2021 to the Ministers of
Education and Health (Ref PO/12), directing that government projects in these MDAs be undertaken by the Amy Construction Brigade. According to the letter, Your Excellency you noted that government projects were being delayed for a number of reasons, including: i). Corruption in procurement processes, and ii). Delays in the procurement process by MDAS and
PPDA.
Your Excellency, you also pointed that; i). the Army Construction Brigade had built up capacity over time, and i). Use of this unit would lead to cost and time savings. The directive was expected to take effect within the Ministries of Education and Health, effective FY 2021/22 and would eventually be extended to other MDAs.
Implications of the Directive
Necessarily, UNABCEC recognizes that your directive goes to serve Ugandans, which includes the citizens in uniforms as well as veterans; who, because of their dedication (as NRA & UPDF), the Ugandans now enjoy peace and freedom. It is appreciated that such huge resources, which are now idle and with potential undesired consequential burdens, need to be attended to.
Nevertheless, your directive poses serious implications to the Private Sector (especially our members) and the country at large. These implications have economic, technical, legal and social aspects.
The economic implications of the directive include: loss of capital invested by our stakeholders, increased unemployment, reduced competitiveness in the Construction Sector. Decrease in
Revenue collections by URA and increased burden on the Consolidated Fund for capital investment by the UPDE. On the technical aspect, there will be increased risk of poor-quality work due to lack of comprehensive supervision, destruction of the construction industries value/supply chain, and increased project costs arising from limited technical capacity in the
UPDF for certain types of civil works. Social implications will definitely be suffered including:
Increased poverty arising from a fall in incomes of our stakeholders and increased social and family stresses. Needless to say that the directive does not uphold and safeguard the PPDA laws.
Your Excellency, we trust that you know that the Construction Sector represents the backbone of most developing economies, as it provides the foundation for infrastructure development, and it is therefore thought to act as a driver and multiplier for all other economic sectors that rely on such infrastructure. It also contributes a significant portion to the Gross National Product and it is critical that it functions efficiently. There are several challenges faced by the Construction
Industry in Uganda. In particular, corruption and inefficiency in public procurement as observed in your letter. However, UNABCEC believes that many of the challenges faced by the industry have been a consequence of the enactment of the Uganda Construction Industry Commission (Ucico) Bill, which has resulted in lack of regulation of the industry. Higher levels of transparency and more streamlined regulations are what is required to restore order and discipline in the industry. UNABCEC also recognizes the strategic importance of the Army having a fully functional Construction Brigade, which can be deployed for both civilian and military works. The best way to achieve this is not to decimate the Private Construction Industry, but to create synergies that enable the two stakeholders to co-exist and benefit from each other’s strengths and skills.
Proposed Way forward
UNABCEC implores the preservation and viability of the Private Sector Construction Industry and livelihoods of its stakeholders. Whereas UNABCEC recognizes the issues raised in the directive, it believes that solutions that will enable the country to grow the capacity of the UPDF
Construction Brigade and the flourishing of Private Sector Contractors can be found. Precedents already exist in countries like Egypt and Tanzania. Therefore, we propose the following actions;
a) Use of the PPP model in order to leverage the synergies that will be created through the UPDF working with the Private Sector and sharing resources to enable skills transfer. Accordingly, UPDF can also be supported to take on more complex projects like railways, dams, and irrigation.
b) Engage PPDA to work on modalities for improving transparency in all Public Contract Procurements. This should further be enhanced by the deployment of an efficient Government Procurement System.
c) Implementation of the National Construction Industry Policy. 2010. The objective of the policy was to improve coordination. Regulation and development of the Sector that remains fragmented and largely dependent oñ Foreign Contractors and Consultants. Local Content must also be intentionally promoted to improve resource access and skills availability.
UNABCEC and other Private Sector Stakeholders, wish to reiterate these concerns with the systemic issues raised to you. Your Excellency. We believe that because of the significance of the Sector and the complexity of its activities, the way forward in addressing these issues raised in your directive lies in engaging all actors and working together with the Army to build pro
Uganda PPPs that will grow the Sector and overcome the constraints.
We thus seek an audience with you, Your Excellency, to further table a detailed paper and expound on the basis and components of our submission.