Electoral Commission relocates head office to new premises

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Uganda Electoral Commission (EC) has announced it will close its old headquarters on Jinja road and relocate to the new offices at Plot 1-3/5b, Seventh Street in the Industrial Area by next month, January 2023.

According to EC Spokesperson Mr Paul Bukenya, the relocation to the new offices will pave way for the construction of the Kampala Flyover along the Jinja-Kampala highway.

“The head office at the new location will be opened to the general public on Monday, January 16, 2023. Please note that during the relocation period, the registry will be open at the new premises on Plot 1-3/5, Seventh Street, Industrial Area, Kampala on weekdays, except public holidays that may fall on such days,” the EC statement read in part.

The new EC officers were formerly occupied by the National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC), who three months ago shifted their offices to Crested Towers where they will be sub-renting with other entities. The announcement was made in newspapers.

“The agreement to procure a new place for EC has already been signed, but the cost of the deal will be finalised when the ground plan of the building is completed,” a statement by Mr Kenneth Kaijuka, the NHCC chief executive read then.

Background

In 2016, Unra paid the Electoral Commission (EC)  Shs20 billion in compensation for its property which would enable EC to relocate to pave the way for the construction of a flyover. Another additional Shs40 billion was released in 2019 by the government to the EC for the same, bringing to Shs60 billion the total amount for relocation.

In 2019, some of the bidders petitioned the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) over what they called an unfair procurement process which had knocked them out of the deal.

The PPDA launched an investigation into the matter based on the law, but later found that the EC had followed the right procedure. It summarily cleared the Commission to continue with the process or advertise afresh for bidders to make proposals.

In 2022, another petition was lodged to the ombudsman for investigations indicating that one of the preferred places was located in a wetland and the procurement was riddled with fraudulent deals.