Kagina admits authorizing Shs21.9B payment to shadowy Chinese firm

Allen Kagina, the Executive Director, Uganda National Roads Authority, has admitted that the irregular payment of nearly Shs22 billion to a shadowy Chinese was an a result of an oversight on her part.

Kagina admitted that not enough due diligence was done to verify the authenticity of China Railway No 3 Engineering Group Uganda Limited before the firm was given advanced money for the construction of the Kanoni-Sembabule road.

The payment came to light during Thursday’s meeting of the committee on commissions, statutory authorities and state enterprises. When lawmakers on the committee inquired from the UNRA management team who had approved the deal, Kagina’s name surfaced.

On Wednesday, Kagina had given a spirited defense of China Railway No 3 Engineering Group Uganda Limited (a Ugandan registered company) yet the contract for which the company received billions was signed with China Railway Group No 3 International, a company registered in China.

The committee has now given UNRA only four weeks to come up with a report of all their contracts and dealings with several companies.

Source: NTV