Mbarara City Council faces potential revenue loss of Shs 72mln

MBARARA CITY, December 30, 2024 – Mbarara City Council is at risk of losing Shs 72 million in revenue from the Kikoona Matooke Market tenderers in Nyakayojo Ward, Mbarara City South Division.

At a recent council meeting, furious councillors accused the town clerk, Assy Abirebe Tumwesigire, and other technocrats of altering the Kikoona Market tender documents without the council’s approval, thereby hindering the city’s revenue collection efforts.

Betty Tigefera, the councillor for Mbarara City South A, stated that the council had previously discussed and approved a plan to collect Shs 16 million from the market every month. However, the current collection is only Shs 10mln.

“We had budgeted for Shs 16mln from the Kikoona Market tender, but we found that the tenderer is only remitting Shs 10mln, resulting in a revenue shortfall of Shs 6mln each month. Even with this reduction, the tenderer last made a payment in February. As for street parking, we are still demanding approximately Shs 150mln,” Tigefera explained.

She further elaborated that the market should be generating Shs 192mln annually, but it is only generating Shs 160 million, leaving a monthly revenue shortfall of Shs 6mln.

“In 2016, we conducted a survey at the market and found it could generate up to Shs 30mln. We even had a contractor willing to pay Shs 26mln, but the system let us down. It is truly unfortunate that the tenderer we selected to remit Shs 16mln per month is now only remitting Shs 10mln,” she said.

Tigefera also noted that the town clerk had failed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which has contributed to the tenderer defaulting on the agreed payments.

“Even after the reduction, the tenderer last paid in February. Yet, we continue to face issues such as poor roads, inadequate health services, and workers demanding their salaries,” she added.

Jessica Mugarure, the councillor for Ruti Ward, said the matter had caused two council meetings to be abandoned, urging the relevant authorities to take action.

“Among the issues that led to the council meetings being called off was the Kikoona market. This is the third time we are discussing the same issue, as if it is the only source of revenue in the city, while other important matters are being neglected,” Mugarure said.

She also suggested that the executive should plan to relocate the banana vendors to council land, rather than continuing to be misled by the market’s proprietors.

“We purchased this land with taxpayers’ money. So, town clerk and your executive, why don’t you plan to relocate to the council land? Let’s set a three-month deadline to prevent the theft that’s occurring at Kikoona Market,” Mugarure stated.

Godfrey Baryomunsi, the councillor for Mbarara City North, accused the town clerk and his executive team of colluding with the technical team to alter arrangements without proper communication. He called for a refund of the missing funds.

“Why do we come here, discuss, and make resolutions that are later amended without our knowledge? This makes our meetings a waste of time. Those responsible for this financial loss should reimburse the government,” Baryomunsi said.

“We agreed in this council that we wanted Shs 16mln, and we put that decision in the minutes. How did it get changed? This loss was caused by the city clerk and his team. As council, we did our part, and those responsible for writing the budget should pay the Shs 72mln,” he added.

For his part, Tumwesigire explained that the tenderers refused to pay Shs 16mln, claiming it was too high compared to the revenue generated by the banana market.

“The bidders insisted on paying only Shs 10mln. It is now up to the council to make a definitive decision on the matter. We are ready to sign the MoU, even tomorrow,” Tumwesigire said.

Speaker Bonny Tashobya reiterated that the town clerk should sign an MoU with the tenderer to ensure the payment of Shs 10mln per month, so the council can collect the necessary funds to maintain the market.

“The tenderer must pay all outstanding arrears for the past 10 months before we sign the MoU. Let’s have an agreement in place for the tenderer to pay Shs 10mln per month, and they must immediately pay the arrears, as they claimed they could not pay without an MoU,” Tashobya said.

This is not the first time the town clerk and city councillors have clashed over Kikoona Market. In 2020, councillors discovered that the market bidder in Ruti Ward was only paying Shs 3mln per month instead of the agreed Shs 16.5mln.

It is alleged that the bidder conspired with a few technocrats and politicians at Mbarara City Council to reduce the payment from Shs 16.5mln to Shs 3mln, causing a financial loss of Shs 1.2 billion at the time. The contract was awarded to Tukaham Enterprises Limited, which is reportedly owned by Jomo Mugabe, the Mbarara City South Mayor, raising concerns over a conflict of interest.

https://thecooperator.news/kiruhura-district-introduces-cow-dung-tax-to-boost-local-revenue/

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