BYA TONNY EVANS NGABO AND MIKE MUSISI-MUSOKE
Wakiso District Administrative Officer (CAO) Alfred Malinga has declined a prayer to renew the contract undertaken by M/S Haso Engineering Co Ltd for construction of Kasangati Health Unit, on allegations of failing to beat the deadline as agreed upon in the signed memorandum of understanding.
The CAO declared this while leading a team of district executives who were inspecting the work to establish how far the contractors have reached, and gave them a 16th January 2025 ultimatum to have withdrawn.
In that direction, CAO Malinga has asked the Ministry of Health to advertise the job for acquisition of another contractor to complete the third phase of the job. He allayed fears of government losing anything by the decision, saying that if it were not for the contractors’ laxity, the job would have been complete by this month as per agreement in the contract.
He was backed by Wakiso district chairperson Matia Lwanga Bwanika who confirmed the contract termination, and added that unless there is a change in the existing laws, these people’s contract cannot and will not be renewed.
“Since acquisition of the contract, these people have never bothered to approach the district either to give an explanation or seek guidance, and have all along been directly contacting ministry officials and underlooking us to whom they are accountable”, the district governor pointed out.
In their defence however, HASO top authorities said they have been receiving late releases for the work, and that since they had other contracts, they switched to those and left pending arrival of funds. They said their prayers for a three-month extension of the contract to enable them complete the job has failed to bear results.
