Eutaw Seeks to Block New Contractor for Mukono-Katosi Road

Eutaw construction Co. Inc. has run to the Constitutional Court seeking a temporary injunction to block Uganda National Roads Authority and the Attorney General from taking further steps in terminating its contract for the construction of Mukono-Katosi-Nyenga road.

This follows the move by the Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA and the Attorney General to terminate the multi-billion road contract awarded in November 2013 to Eutaw for allegedly entering into a contract under false pretext.

It claims that UNRA’s move to terminate the contract is in a breach of an earlier agreement signed between them and that this is in violation of its constitutional rights.

“An interim injunction order doth issue against the respondents (UNRA and AG), their agents, servants or employees restraining them from taking any further steps to terminate or cancel the contract dated November 14 2013 between the first petitioner (Eutaw) and the first respondent (UNRA) for the upgrade of the Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi-Kisoga-Nyenga road until the determination of the application for the temporary injunction.” reads Eutaw’s petition in part.

Through its business representative Apollo Senkeeto in his affidavit before court, Eutaw states that it’s prudent that court grants them their prayers as they will suffer irreparable damage if the acts of UNRA and Attorney General are not restrained.

He also states of how the cost of upgrading the Katosi road will increase once the Eutaw’s contract is cancelled and a new contractor hired.

To that effect, the court has set tomorrow, Thursday at 2:30pm to hear the interim application by Eutaw on whether to stop UNRA from going ahead to terminate the contract and hiring a new contractor.

The interim application will be heard by a single judge Eldad Mwangusya.

The feud between Eutaw and UNRA begun on November 15 2013 when the two companies signed a contract to have the civil works to upgrade of Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi road works under taken at a total fee of over Ugx 165 billion. This was after Eutaw’s bid was found to be the best.

Subsequently, UNRA made an advance payment of Ugx 24 billion to Eutaw and commenced works. But this was done though a sub-contractor M/S Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO) and that the work done so far is in excess of the advance payment made by UNRA to Eutaw.

However, on November 24 2014, UNRA wrote Eutaw ordering it to leave the construction site on grounds that it had allegedly entered into the contract on a false pretext which Eutaw has strongly denied.

Indeed the civil works ceased though the road construction equipment remained on site to date.

UNRA’s representative in this petition is lamenting of how he has been subjected to unfounded police investigations over alleged fraud of Ugx 75million that has seen him arrested, detained without trial.

This he says has harmed his personal reputation and family as he has been also ordered to continuously report to the Special Investigations Unit.

He now wants the same police investigations halted until the main petition is determined.

The fixing of the interim application comes at the time when the police has summoned the Works minister Abraham Byandala to record a statement over the same road scam.