The executive director of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Allen Kagina wants government to reduce on making direct procurement as this limits its chance of negotiating contracts.

Allen Kagina the Executive Director of UNRA.

Kagina said this as she was appearing before parliament’s accountability committee as members on the committee raised queries on why the authority had to hire another consultation firm for the Kampala express high way yet there was a Chinese firm that had already done the same work.

The members also found that in the auditor general’s report of 2013/ 2014, it was revealed that government paid 2.3 million dollars per kilo meter on this road yet the same road in Ethiopia with the same terrain cost 1.2 million dollars.

Kagina in her response informed the legislators that UNRA had very little to do in negotiating contracts as this was a direct procurement where it was agreed between government and Exim bank that both the contractor and consultant had to come from China.

This she said was the reason they hired another consultant to compare what had been provided to them and promised to look into both work to see whether the auditor general’s query was right.

She however, agreed with the committee that in the future such agreements need to be avoided.