Eng. David Luyimbazi Ssali, the man who was recently identified by President Museveni to become the Deputy Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority is a force to reckon with when it comes to fixing the infrastructural mess in Kampala.
As an engineer, he was pushed out of public service action, ‘buried’ until his resurrection on the day President Museveni went to Jinja to commission the Uganda’s first cable-stayed bridge that is 525metres long.
Although many people including Uganda National Road’s Authority (UNRA) officials were excited with the magnificent nature of the cable bridge what cost USD125m, very few, knew the brain behind its construction. The voice of Luyimbazi (a man who had for years been thrown out of UNRA) about the construction of the bridge rang bells in the minds of the top echelons that a dormant talent in him must be extinguished.
His absence at the commissioning of USD476m Kampala – Entebbe Expressway, does not keep away the fact that he is the brain child to the project.
Luyimbazi, who does engineering with a passion is likely to ‘resurrect’ and shine again if he does not collide with Ugandans at City Hall who hate doing things transparently.
Since he is now used to political battles, he may concentrate his energy on planning and rebuilding Kampala to put it at a city level status.
HID HIGHS AND LOWS
When a message about his designated job came out on social media, his detractors rushed to pour cold water on his profile. These same people are said to have worked hard to ensure that his name remains tainted despite being exonerated and cleared by the Inspector General of Government.
It should be said that some of his hecklers at UNRA have given a deaf ear to whatever followed in the construction of the the famous Mukono-Katosi Kisoga/Nyenga. Despite pumping in extra more than Shs100bn to the first quoted price by the original contractor Eutaw, the new contractors are still struggling with the road by fixing the potholes even before its commissioning.
For record, in the letter dated January 10, 2019, the IGG, Irene Mulyagonja exonerated him of any wrong doing in the famous Mukono-Katosi 24 billion saga which saw former State lands minister lose his job.
The IGG writes thus: “This is to inform you that the inspectorate of government did not find you culpable in the mismanagement of the procurement of a contractor in the construction of the Mukono-KatosiKisoga/Nyenga road and therefore this letter serves to clear you of any allegations made against you with regard to that procurement.”
“Please be informed that the Inspectorate of government did not cause the termination of your contract at UNRA. The ordered suspension from duty by us was to pave way for the then ongoing investigations about procurement of a contractor for Mukono-Katosi/Kisoga Nyenga road. Before our investigations were concluded, UNRA Board, your employer then, chose to terminate your employment and paid you your terminal benefits. We think that our investigations may not have had a bearing on the termination of your employment with UNRA.”
While Mulyagonja tried to distance her office from Eng. Luyimbazi’s UNRA troubles that resulted in his shaming exit, there is no running away from the fact that his sudden downfall was a result of the IGG investigations into the Katosi road saga.
Unfortunately his exoneration was not given much attention and publicity like his axing. This gave a chance to his nemesis to mislead the public that the man who President Museveni shortlisted to the public service commission for appointment is incompetent.
Luyimbazi has remained steadfast since he left government. Those close to him intimate that he remained dedicated and professional in private practice, a virtue that has landed him another shot at civil service.
“For the president to head-hunt and approve someone for the coveted post of KCCA management, it shows a high degree of trust in both Luyimbazi’s person and expertise,” a retired civil servant commented. It also demonstrates the benevolence of the President not to hold a good man down even after evidence shows that person to be innocent as is the case for Eng. Luyimbazi.
With him there are hopes that, he will fight hard to crucify the political vultures at City Hall so as to reinstate sanity in Kampala city.
LUYIMBAZI’S CAREER
Luyimbazi’s experience in infrastructural developments is unequalled. He joined the Ministry of Works and Transport over 20 years back. From 2005, when he was seconded to join the Road Agency Formation Unit (RAFU) of the Ministry as a Senior Project Engineer, a position he held until April 2008, he has never looked back.
In April 2008, he was appointed the Director of Planning in UNRA and he held this position until June 2015 when his contract was terminated. Despite his exit, UNRA kept rolling out his set projects and sources say he kept guiding them.
As Director of Planning, he initiated projects, prepared plans and designs for all highway and bridge projects in UNRA. He aimed at implementing the NRM manifesto by involving in every project especially the initiation and planning. This explains why in the early times of UNRA, the development projects were in line with what government focuses on.
It is evident that from his employment under the Ministry of works, the Government provided him a platform to specialize in planning transport projects, designing highways, investment appraisal of projects, preparation of multi-year transport plans, public private partnerships, managing large programmes.
He possesses skills that one can confidently say right now very few Ugandans possess including experience and exposure.
As a testimony to the work he did while in UNRA by the time he left the organization, there is hope that he will improve KCCA
ACHIEVEMENTS AT UNRA
* Spearheaded the design of 2,400 km of roads for Upgrading from gravel to tarmac and 441 km for old paved roads for reconstruction;
* Spearheaded the designs of major flagship projects that include Kampala – Entebbe Expressway (52 km), Kampala – Jinja Expressway (75 km), Kampala – Bombo Expressway (35 km), Kampala – Mpigi Expressway (40 km), Southern Bypass (15 km), Outer Beltway (40 km), Kampala Flyovers (15 km)and the Very Important Persons (VVIP) Route (25 km);
* He also spearheaded the preparation and design for the New Nile Bridge at Jinja as well as Karuma and Masindi Port Bridges;
* He spearheaded the preparation, financing and contracting for the 1st Expressway Project in Uganda (Kampala – Entebbe Expressway) and the 1st Cable Stayed Bridge in Uganda (New Nile Bridge); all totaling USD 600 million;
* In liaison with the Finance Ministry and Development Partners (World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, JICA, China EXIM Bank, BADEA, Islamic Development Bank, European Union, Trademark East Africa, etc.), he spearheaded the UNRA team that supported the negotiation of loan agreements up to the tune of US$ 2.0 Billion for various road and bridge projects.
FACT FILE
Luyimbazi,48 hails from Luwero District, Katikamu County and sub-county, Busula village. He is a born to Chrysostom Ssali Lule and Elizabeth Nalunkuma. He is a staunch Muganda of the Nkima clan
Luyimbazi grew up in Makerere Kavule along Bombo Road where his parents. He studied for 6 years at Makerere College School and later joined Makerere University for his Civil Engineering degree at the Faculty of Technology. He has a relevant Master’s degree in Highway Management and Engineering from the University of Birmingham and another (Master of Science in Major Programme Management) from the University of Oxford. Immediately after campus, before landing a job at the Works Ministry, He worked with Victoria Construction Company before defecting to Kagga & and Partners.
Before his designated job announcement, he was working as a private consultant operating under Basic Group Ltd. He has been has been offering a range of services covering areas like span engineering, construction, real estate, manufacturing, energy, oil & gas, agriculture, education, commodities trading, technology and financial services. With his Basic Group Ltd & Joadah Consultants, Turner & Townsend and Roughton International Ltd forming a consortium to work jointly in works supervision.
He has also been serving as the Deputy Project Manager on the ongoing infrastructural interventions aimed at servicing the Kampala Industrial
Business Park (Namanve)where Basic Group Ltd (his company) is in a consortium with Joadah Consultants, Turner & Townsend and Roughton International Ltd.
