I know I speak for the public when I say that the construction of the Hoima City stadium is a massive success.
When completed by December 31, 2025, it will be one of the stadiums used for Uganda as we co-host Afcon 2027 along with Tanzania and Kenya. The contractor, Summa International Construction Company, has done a tremendous job to beat most of the targets ahead of time.
Summa’s ongoing construction has been projected to be so good that any critical commentary can easily be seen as borderline form of being unpatriotic. Even in my 20-plus years in the construction industry, what Summa has done is astonishing.
However, beyond the rosy picture is the manifestation of a bitter reality check about the murky waters of our construction and contracting industry. For instance, Summa has been able to beat the deadlines mostly because it is using its own funds through the public private partnership (PPP) it signed with government.
At the start, whereas government offered them Shs 152 billion being 30 per cent of the Shs 498 billion project total valuation, the remainder of the funds are being footed by Summa. In simple terms, what this means is that Summa is using its own money to determine its own bills on top of paying its workers.
The contractor is doing this with limited oversight from the Ugandan government. On paper, this is good because it eliminates the bureaucracy associated with getting clearances from various government officials, but on the flipside, it paves the way for exorbitant rates that government will eventually incur in due course.
You only need to contrast with what Tanzania is doing to understand this phenomenon. The Tanzanian government is concurrently constructing a 30,000-seater Samia Suluhu Hassan stadium for just $112m, the Ugandan taxpayer will have to fork $131m for a 20,000-seater Hoima City stadium.
The comparison cannot be more one- sided, especially when one considers that the Hoima City stadium was mostly donated to government. Does this sound like a hit on Summa? I hope not.
What I am trying to point out is that local or indigenous contractors have the capacity to do this work if given government assurances. Unfortunately, we are often sidelined. How, you may ask!
We have enough competent architects and engineers, but they are let down by a system that fronts capacity at the expense of proficiency. At this point, it is easy to dismiss me as a pessimist but don’t get me wrong.
The purpose of my article is not to punch holes in Summa’s great work, but to enlighten stakeholders in the construction sector about the dynamics of why indigenous contractors rarely win such projects.
To work on the Hoima City stadium project, a Ugandan company would have had to borrow money from a financial institution or moneylender to undertake such a massive project yet in most cases, government does not pay on time.
These delays often take years regardless of the local contractor’s loan obligation. So, due to delayed payments and pressure from multiple stakeholders, the construction industry, particularly contractors, face immense stress, leaving them with significant financial burdens.
For instance, I know for the record that the ministry of Works and Transport owes contractors up to Shs 1.07 trillion, with total estimates reaching over Shs 5.3 trillion. The pressure from multiple stakeholders such as the employers, citizens and politicians often amplifies the stress levels of contractors.
The financial strain of delayed payments, debt and healthcare costs can further exacerbate the stress and challenges faced by contractors. Yet, if government is to follow its much-publicised Buy Uganda Build Uganda (Bubu) mantra, it would not only build capacity for local contractors, thousands of people would get employed or feed off these projects.
Going forward, government can use the Summa success to support local contractors by implementing policies to protect the local construction industry and ensure timely payments to contractors.
This could help alleviate some of the stress and financial burdens we go through on a daily basis. Providing resources and support for stress management, such as counseling or stress-reduction programs, could also help contractors cope with the demands of their job.
The author is a construction industry consultant.