BUSEGA EXPRESSWAY PROBE! Kagina Records Statement… MP Kuteesa, Chinese Contractors & Top Engineers in IGG Crosshairs as Hunt for Shs2tn Road Scandal Masterminds Intensifies
The net is tightening around Uganda’s biggest road scandal as former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Executive Director Allen Kagina has recorded a statement before investigators probing the ballooning cost of the Busega-Mpigi Expressway, a project whose price tag has exploded from Shs547.5 billion to over Shs2 trillion.
RedPepper has established that Kagina appeared before investigators from the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) after several engineers reportedly mentioned her name during the ongoing investigations into what has become one of Uganda’s biggest infrastructure corruption probes.
Sources close to the investigation say detectives are examining allegations that decisions made during Kagina’s tenure at UNRA contributed to the massive escalation of the project’s costs.
Among the issues under scrutiny are claims that compensation paid to some Project Affected Persons (PAPs) was reduced before the road alignment was allegedly shifted into a wetland, a move investigators believe significantly increased compensation costs and altered the scope of the project.
The allegations remain under investigation and no findings of wrongdoing have been made against Kagina.
Also recording a statement is Mary Kamuli Kuteesa, the current Mwenge South Member of Parliament.
Before joining elective politics, Kuteesa spent nearly a decade as Director of Legal Services at UNRA, where she worked closely with Allen Kagina after the latter moved from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to head the roads agency.
Investigators are understood to be examining legal approvals, contractual processes and decisions made during the period when UNRA still managed the multibillion-shilling expressway project.
RedPepper has further established that investigators have developed interest in Kuteesa’s husband, whose law firm, Arcodco & Co. Advocates, reportedly represented some of the contractors involved on the expressway project, including China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC).
Sources say investigators are examining whether there were any conflicts of interest or other issues requiring further inquiry.
No wrongdoing has been established against the law firm or any individual connected to it.
The probe is also widening to include some of the Chinese contractors working on the expressway.
Highly placed sources told RedPepper that investigators intend to question officials from the construction companies following allegations concerning project costs, contract variations and implementation of works.
The firms are expected to explain how the project’s budget kept rising through successive design revisions.
FROM UNRA TO WORKS MINISTRY
The investigation has now stretched back to the period when the now-defunct Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was still in charge of the project before it was absorbed into the Ministry of Works and Transport under the government’s rationalisation programme.
Investigators from the Inspectorate’s Directorate of Projects, which examines government projects for transparency and value for money, have already interrogated several engineers who worked on the project’s design and procurement.
Senior officials at the Ministry of Works have also been summoned to record statements.
UNRA designed the expressway, handled procurement and supervised the consultant before handing over the project to the ministry.
That makes decisions taken under UNRA central to understanding how a project initially contracted at Shs547.5 billion has grown into one now estimated to cost over Shs2 trillion.
Long before corruption allegations emerged, the Auditor General had already raised serious concerns.
In the 2024 audit report, the Auditor General found that the project’s cost had risen to approximately Shs1.35 trillion by March 2023.
The report attributed much of the increase to one critical decision—the contract had been signed before detailed engineering designs were completed.
That decision triggered four rounds of design reviews, multiple route changes, fresh compensation claims and years of delays.
Construction began in May 2020, with completion initially scheduled for 2023.
The expressway is now expected to be completed in December 2028.
KAGINA’S ‘NO OBJECTION’ LETTER
Another document now attracting investigators’ attention is a “No Objection” letter signed by Allen Kagina during her tenure as UNRA Executive Director.
The letter approved the consultant’s final design review after earlier concerns had been addressed.
ENGINEERS IN TROUBLE
The investigation was initially triggered after the Inspector General of Government Justice Aisha Nalule Batala ordered the suspension of engineers Dickens Ahimbisibwe and Edwin Raymond Kiyaga.
A third engineer, Patrick Muleme, was also named in the presidential directive.
The officials were ordered to surrender government property, stay away from office and cooperate with investigators.
None has been charged with any offence, and all remain presumed innocent.
The investigation gathered momentum after President Yoweri Museveni, in a June 26 letter, accused officials of abandoning an already compensated road corridor and allegedly diverting the road through land in which individuals had personal interests.
According to the President, the diversion triggered fresh compensation claims despite government having already borrowed approximately Shs600 billion for the project.
In the strongly-worded directive, Museveni declared:
“These thieves must be destroyed.”
THE BIG QUESTIONS
As the IGG, Parliament and the Auditor General continue digging, several critical questions remain unanswered.
Who authorised the project before detailed designs were completed?
Who approved the four costly design revisions?
Who benefited from the alleged route changes?
Who owns the controversial land titles in the wetland corridor?
And perhaps most importantly—how did a Shs547.5 billion expressway morph into a project now estimated to cost more than Shs2 trillion?
With former UNRA bosses, serving politicians, engineers and contractors now recording statements, Uganda’s biggest road scandal appears to be entering its most explosive phase yet.
GOT A HOT STORY? LET US KNOW!
Got breaking news, explosive secrets, or hard evidence?
Email us: redpeppertips@gmail.com
We accept tips, documents, videos, photos, and recordings—the more evidence you have, the better.
CONFIDENTIALITY IS OUR TOP PRIORITY. SOURCES ARE ALWAYS PROTECTED!
About Post Author
