The investigations to ascertain the authenticity of the trending video clip regarding the construction of Kihembe Sub County Headquarters in Kanungu District by the local authority have flagged it as fake information circulated with malicious intentions to discredit the local leadership and government in power.

The clip in which Gad Rugaju, the Kanungu Deputy RDC, appeared while lambasting the contractor went viral on various social media platforms and made headlines in several media channels this week.

According to a detailed report, the two-room house in the footage is a component of a bigger structure from which the said rooms were extracted and constructed at a cost of UGX 14 million, not UGX 34 million as alleged by the Deputy RDC Rugaju.

The source noted that the contractor named Akba Quick Engineering Services was procured by the District Administration under procurement reference: KANU851/WRKS/2022-2023/004 and the contract awarded under minute 12/Oct/2022-2023(c) with a value of UGX 14,772,200 for the construction of the said two rooms of office space but not UGX 34 million as claimed by the Deputy RDC Rugaju.

“I wish to clarify the trending video and photograph with the image or footage of Mr. Rugaju Gad, the Deputy RDC Kanungu District, alleging that UGX 34,000,000 was spent. This is utter misinformation and failure to seek correct information by the officer, which contravenes our operational conduct and guidance on communication,” the officials revealed, accusing Deputy RDC Rugaju of using his office to black service providers.

According to a source, Kihembe Sub County has never received funds for the construction of office premises, but the local leaders made a local arrangement to avoid office rent costs and decided to allocate UGX 14 million to start with two rooms out of a big structural plan.

“After seeking the CAO’s guidance, UGX 14,304,196, including VAT, worth UGX 2,181,996 was earmarked for the first phase of construction to cover two office rooms from the main structure plan at the proposed site for the Sub County Headquarters,” the report revealed.

BACKGROUND

In July 2022, the sub county received start-up funds amounting to UGX 31,200,000 (thirty-one million two hundred thousand shillings only), which were meant for operational costs at the sub county, including office rent.

The leadership of the sub county, however, resolved to forego part of the operational funds and start a phased approach to the construction of the sub county administration block.

In November 2022, ground breaking and site handover were conducted at a public function attended by local leaders and local residents and presided over by the RDC, Ambrose Mwesigye. Bills of quantities, scope of work, contract copies, and a master plan of the proposed administration block were shared and explained to the public.

Upon reconciliation of figures, BOQs, scope of work, and the physical structure on the ground in relation to the overall structure plan, the contractor was paid.

Kihembe Sub County is a new administrative unit in Kanungu District Local Government that was curved from Kanyantorogo Sub County and got operational in July 2022, running politically under its mother unit of Kanyantorogo Sub County.