A government inspection of the Kisubi-Nakawuka-Mpigi road project has uncovered alleged fraud in the compensation of people whose properties fall within the road reserve, including a case in which Shs893 million was reportedly paid for graves that investigators found to be empty.
The discovery was made on Wednesday when Works and Transport Minister Fred Byamukama led a fact-finding mission along the 72km road project.
According to the minister, some people allegedly created fake graves by cementing sections of land and placing crosses on them to make it appear as though they contained human remains. Compensation was then reportedly sought for the graves, including costs for exhumation, transportation and relocation.
The inspection also exposed what Byamukama described as a wider scheme involving people who allegedly created properties within the road reserve in order to obtain compensation.
Some ministry employees were reportedly listed as project-affected persons and received substantial compensation, while others allegedly constructed houses and other structures on land earmarked for the road.
In some cases, the minister said, structures presented as houses with septic tanks turned out to be nothing more than slabs laid on the ground.
Other structures had painted walls, glass windows and doors but were reportedly empty shells with no meaningful internal fittings.
Byamukama ordered the arrest of two officials accused of playing a role in the alleged manipulation of compensation figures. State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) officers subsequently arrested the project valuer, Ivan Akampa, and surveyor Elijah Ssekito.
“Some of these people constructed shell houses on land where the road was scheduled to pass and compensated themselves with huge sums of money as project-affected persons, yet some of the properties were not registered in their names. We are going to arrest all of them,” Byamukama said during the inspection in Lufuka village, Nakawuka.
The minister further directed SHACU to pursue eight other officials and land dealers who are allegedly linked to the compensation scheme.
Byamukama said the alleged fraud was particularly concerning because the Government had set aside Shs430 billion for compensating project-affected persons along the road — an amount significantly higher than the Shs340.5 billion budgeted for construction of the entire project.
He said the inspection had also uncovered significant differences between actual land prices and the values used during the compensation process.
According to Byamukama, an acre of land in the area costs about Shs35 million, but some valuations allegedly placed the price at as much as Shs2 billion per acre.
“Who is fooling who? Is it the locals or our valuers?” the minister asked, accusing some officials of colluding with individuals who allegedly put up structures specifically to benefit from compensation.
The minister also raised concerns about the involvement of contractors in corruption-related activities and urged companies working on the project to maintain high standards of integrity.
The Government awarded the road project to China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), but Byamukama said the contractor was instructed to work with Mechanical, Technological Facility (MTF), a local company, as part of efforts to build the capacity of Ugandan firms.
MTF was allocated 22km of the 72km road project and is involved in supervising the works on that section.
Byamukama praised the work done by MTF and said residents in the area had not raised complaints about its performance.
He urged the contractors to avoid corruption and focus on recruiting and training more Ugandans to strengthen local capacity in the construction sector.
