Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has asked the government to ensure that the construction of the Mbuya Military Referral Hospital does not become a tale of failure, just like the International Specialised Hospital Lubowa.
This was after the Committee Chaired by Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi, while on a tour of the project, found the site abandoned by the contractor.
“It is a site that had long been abandoned for quite some time, I think they did last-minute mobilization because we were coming. But even that, for me, it is positive; if agencies can wake up and know that a Committee of Parliament is coming and they begin to remobilise, we will keep a camera on this project because we can’t afford another Lubowa, this isn’t exactly there, but we are nearly there with the work done,” Kivumbi told Journalists.
PAC took a decision to tour the construction site at Mbuya after Auditor General John Muwanga revealed in his December 2023 report that there were delays by the Ministry of Defense and Veteran Affairs to complete the construction of the shs106.2 billion Mbuya Military Referral Hospital. The contract for the construction works was awarded to China National Aero Technology International Engineering Corporation on 1st February 2018, with the initial completion date earmarked for 1st July 2020.
The Committee learnt that the contractor failed to complete works within the stipulated contractual time, prompting the Ministry of Defence to extend the contract by another 3 years targeting 30th June 2023.
While the Ministry had paid shs69 billion, at the time of the audit in October 2023, auditors discovered that the site had been abandoned and there was no work done on ground.
Kivumbi asked the Contractor to reveal the time when works will be completed this time around, to which the contractor committed to having substantial works completed by July 2024.
“Is that the commitment you give to the country that in July 2024 you will complete the works? We want a completion date, not substantial work. When are you completing this project?, asked Kivumbi.
“You can see the works had been abandoned; you don’t need to be a builder [to tell that]. It is bad that these people brought the President here and stopped him outside and told him work was at 80 per cent, but inside, there was nothing taking place, it was like a kraal. When you pass around on the streets, you may think this hospital is breathing, and you can be treated.”
The contractor promised to complete and deliver the hospital by the end of December 2024. This did not go well with Mawogola South MP, Gorreth Namugga who wondered if the Ministry of Defence had turned the Mbuya Military Referral Hospital construction site into a rat rearing facility, because of the bush and soil that had covered up the site.
“Just as the Auditor General had indicated, the site had been abandoned, it is bushy, and the soil is all over the place. They brought in some people to sweep in the night because we were coming, but the good thing is, this project isn’t like the Lubowa hospital project at least there are some buildings to show that works are ongoing. What we requested of them is to ensure that the contractor resumes work. The truth is the place is all bushy; at some point, I thought they had started rearing rats,” she said.
The State Minister for Defence in charge of Veteran Affairs, Huda Abason Oleru, assured the Committee that the Government will keep on the contractors’ case to deliver the facility as per the contractual obligations in the extension.
The Minister, however, insisted that, unlike the famous International Specialised Hospital at Lubowa, the works at Mbuya show that there is progress made so far.
“When you look at the contract agreement, this project must have been completed in July last year and indeed as a Ministry, we are going to supervise, monitor and see that the contractor delivers this contract to us by 31st July this year. Almost all the equipment is now on site. So, it is just a matter of being on ground and the money that they needed has been released to them,” the Minister said.
Oleru said that the Government also expanded the size of the hospital from the initial 250-bed capacity and added 75 more beds, which means it is the initial project that will be delivered as expansion works continue.
“This is going to be a highly specialised hospital for referral, somebody with malaria you want to run here, no. this hospital is going to treat the most difficult diseases that we have in this country. I haven’t gone to the site in Lubowa, so I can’t speak, but after hearing the complaints, I am talking about my hospital, Mbuya, which is here, I can’t say if it is better than Lubowa because I haven’t been to Lubowa. 250 beds capacity, extra 75 beds added, which won’t be completed,” said Minister Huda.
