UIPE

EDITOR
Irene Kabuzire

DESIGN & LAYOUT

Eunice Kuria - City Imaging (Nairobi)

HISTORIAL PICTURES
Martin Muthee

PUBLISHERS
College Publishers Ltd
P. O. Box 9350
Tel: (041) 257823
Fax: (041) 255904, Kampala
E-mail: college@africaonline.co.ug
 List of Current Council Office Bearers

Eng Karuma Kagyina Eng. Winfred Naluyinda Eng Luyimbazi David Ssali Eng Retreat Nkya Kiiza

Eng Sooma Ayub Eng. Dr. Anania Mbabazi.psd Eng Mpango Edson Eng Sam Ssenkungu

Eng Alfred Kamule. Mugisa Daudi

From left: Eng Alfred Kamule, Eng. Livingstone Bangi, Eng Retreat Nkya Kiiza, Eng Karuma
Kagyina, Eng Dr. Anania Mbabazi, Hon. Eng John Nasasira, Eng Winfred Naluyinda, Eng Sooma
Ayub, Eng Peter Balimunsi, Eng Edson Mpango, Eng. James Omara Ogwang.

UIPE Council
President Eng. Karuma Kagyina Members Mr. Daudi Mugisha
Vice Presidents: Eng Sam Senkungu
Electrical Eng Edward Kasule Eng Sooma Ayub
Civil Eng Simon Peter Otoi Eng James Omara Ogwang
Mechanical Eng Winfred Naluyinda Eng Dr. Anania Mbabazi
Hon. Secretary Eng. Retreat Nkya Kiiza Eng Dr. Edison Mpango
Hon Treasurer Eng Peter Balimunsi Eng Alfred Kamule
Past President Eng Livingstone Bangi Eng. Luyimbazi David Ssali
 3

Message of the Patron

Public to understand the challenges and cooperate to
find solutions.

Engineering and technological challenges in this

country are immense. They include the demand for
improved communication systems, better transport
infrastructure and services, adequate water supply,
sufficient power supply, better sanitation, improved or
better housing and settlements and quality living for the
citizens. As Engineers, we must rise to the challenged
because the public looks at us to make all the
difference.

I, as the Patron of the Institution, I get very concerned

when matters like substandard construction works,
collapsing structures and poor engineering practices
that keep cropping up.

I will endeavour to advise the Members of the Institution

as I have done before and in this vein, I wish to thank
the Council and the Members for the trust and
Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers
cooperation they have accorded me up to now.
(UIPE)
I encourage Members to participate more actively in
Publishing an Engineering Journal like this one is very
this and other Technology Conferences and contribute
important for the Engineers and the Public. For you
more to the Journal. Finally, let me congratulate the
engineers, this is an opportunity to learn from the other
Council for this feat and organizing the Conference and
engineers and technologists new innovations, new
encourage you to keep up with this effort.
methods of application and new ideas in the practice of
Engineering and Technology.
Eng.J.M.Nasasira(Hon.)
For the general public, it is important for them to be
PATRON AND MINISTER OF WORKS, HOUSING &
assured that their engineers are abreast with current
COMMUNICATIONS
trends and that they have not been outpaced by new
developments and challenges.

The general public will be comforted when it gets to

appreciate that someone somewhere is scratching
his/her head to find a solution to what seems to be
intractable challenges. Engineers and technologists are
very important to the development of any country.

They are the prime movers of production,

manufacturing, marketing and most aspects of
economic growth. This Journal will therefore provide a
forum for the Engineers and Technologists and the
 4

Message From
The President Uganda Institution
of Professional Engineers (Uipe)
Journal that is being launched today. The Journal is portable,
reader-friendly and worth keeping on ones bookshelf. It is therefore
recommended for every one interested in new technological
advances.

You Engineers have a duty to use your professional knowledge and

training to improve the well being of your community and the
country as a whole. We must strive to inform the general public
what we are doing and whether we are doing it well and if we are
not doing it well, why. We have recently found ourselves under
severe criticism. The general public is expressing disquiet at
engineering practices in various fields. The accusing finger keeps
pointing at the falling professional integrity, falling technical
standards and lack of diligence. We therefore must take advantage
of events like the Annual Technology Conference to inform the
general public what we are doing, assess performance in the
outgoing year and pick new knowledge and initiatives from the
interaction the Conference offers to improve our performance.

I wish to encourage Members of the Institution to be very active in

On this auspicious occasion of the 11th National Technology
this and future Conferences, contribute to the Journal, prepare and
Conference and the launching of the Institution's Technology present papers, and to really learn from one another so that we
Conference Journal, I wish to thank the NTC Organizing improve our performance.
Committee for its strenuous efforts in organizing the
Conference and conceiving the idea of producing this very Let me conclude by thanking the Guest of Honour for having
important and apt Journal, the first of its kind, since the accepted our Invitation, thank our Patron for his continued support
Institution started holding the Annual Technology Conference, and guiding the Institution all this time, thank my Council for the
some eleven years ago. support they have given me and the Institution Members for the
good work done. Last but not least, I wish to thank our collaborators
The Technology Conference is the single most important event in and those who have continued to support the Institution.
the Institution's calendar. It offers the Institution the opportunity to
bring out to the engineers, other professionals and the general
public, engineering innovations in technology, new materials and
new ideas spotted from within and outside the country in the year so Signed,
that this knowledge is shared out to the benefit of Ugandans and the Eng. Karuma-Kagyina
country as a whole. This is also the occasion when topical PRESIDENT
engineering or technological issues that affect the public and the
country are, after a thorough analysis, brought forth in form of
Conference Papers to the public for discussion. Knowledge is key
to all development. However, knowledge which is not shared so
that it is applied, is valueless knowledge.

In the past Conferences, there have been many interesting

exhibitions and topical presentations but the Institution has not been
keeping the proceedings in an orderly manner. It is this time round
that the Institution has aggregated this valuable information into

Introduction. . .
Promoting the Engineering Profession in Uganda
UIPE was born in 1972 and since then has had the mantle of
steering the engineering profession in Uganda; promoting the
professional ethics of engineering and overall, place
engineers at the centre of developments taking place in
Uganda for instance in telecommunications, road
construction, bridges, new buildings, water supply, power
supply among a host of others.
The Institution aims to be a leading professional organization in the
country and sub-region, spearheading development and integration
of science, engineering and technology into public policy and
management of resources in a sustainable manner for the
betterment of mankind.
UIPE's mandate is to bring together engineers of various disciplines
aiming at professional development and improvement of the
general profession
Organisation of Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers (UIPE)
UIPE is headed by a President currently assisted by three vice
presidents and a council. The Council works on behalf of the
Institute in carrying out its mandate through council committees,
through divisions and through branches of UIPE. The committees
deal with the area of finance and administration; membership
education and training; disciplinary, professional ethics; career
guidance and library. The branches are at district level and include:
Jinja Fort Portal Mbale and Kampala.
There is a Secretariat headed by an Honorary Secretary. The
Secretariat is the administrative body which runs the day to day
activities of UIPE. It reports to the council.
UIPE functions under three Divisions, Branches and Committees.
The Divisions of UIPE are:
• Civil Engineering Division
• Electrical Engineering Division and
• Mechanical Engineering Division
Membership
Membership under UIPE is in three categories; Fellows, Ordinary
and Associate members. The whole list of categories includes;
Fellows/honorary
These are corporate members who have made significant
5
contributions to the profession; or to the institution; or are eminent
in engineering or public service, which contributions are recognized
by the Council.
Graduate
The graduate category calls for at least 4 years of service in the
engineering profession after graduation. They must also present
and submit a career development report which is assessed by
assessors within the institution. This is a prerequisite for an
engineer to be registered on the Engineers Registration Board
which board allows one to practice as an engineer in Uganda.
Technologist
These are members with a higher diploma in engineering with at
least three years working experience related to the profession and
is not eligible to be a corporate member.
Technician
The technicians category, refers to members who, like the
Technologist should have three years working experience with a
diploma in engineering and is also not eligible for corporate
membership.
Student members
These are members who are currently pursuing a career in the
engineering profession.
Programmes and activities undertaken by the Council
• The Abraham Waligo Memorial Lecture where prominent
personalities within the industry are called upon to speak to the
participants about innovations and improvements in the industry.
• The National Technology Conference where exhibitions of new
advancements in technology are displayed and presentations on
a technical nature affecting the Ugandan professionals.
Basically, giving the professionals a glimpse into new
technologies relevant to the industry.
• An Annual General Meeting is also held under which a new
presidency and council is chosen to continue to implement the
affairs of the institute.
• There is also an annual engineer dinner and social evenings
planned for professionals where apart from socializing, key
persons from the engineering fraternity are brought in to talk to
the professionals on topical issues about the industry.
All these activities are carried out voluntarily except for the duties of
administration e.g. Secretaries.
 6

Interviews with Past Presidents

Memorable occurrences
What cannot go unmentioned is when I was elected to become the
president of the Institution. To be a leader of engineering
professionals was for me a humbling experience and a most
gratifying one. I remember we worked closely with the oil companies
to bring practical skills to the membership in the business of
lubricants. In those days the Institution placed some priority in
educating our members on the need for quality maintenance.

Also fresh in my mind is the event when President Yoweri Museveni

laid the foundation stone for the engineers' house in Kyambogo.
One day I hope this monument to engineering will be built.

Challenges encountered by UIPE over the years

Eng. Dr. F.B Sebbowa is a 1982 PhD graduate of Mechanical
Engineering (Leeds University) and recently added the
ESAMI/Maastricht Executive MBA. He was a Senior Lecturer at
Nairobi and Makerere universities lecturing mechanical engineering
to undergraduates and supervising postgraduate student, worked
with the Uganda Clays for 9 years from where he joined the
Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) as the Chief Executive
Officer.
Just like any other field, there are some shortcomings, which mainly
hinged around the failure of UIPE to successfully implement the
continuous training and assessment of the engineering practice.
Also the elders in the profession drift away from the activities of the
Institution yet they posses vast experience that would have been of
great value to the up coming engineers.
On the upcoming Technology Conference
The Coming conference should however explore ways to overcome
these challenges. For instance the review of the council's strategic
plan to make it more applicable to today's circumstances.

Comment on past Technology Conferences

Past conferences helped both the young and old engineers to focus
on topical issue the affect their profession and the country at various
times. However, they were sometimes quite academic in leaning
and some failed to address real practical engineering issues. This is
what we want to change.

The forthcoming conference should focus on the day-to-day issues

that affect the engineers and find lasting solutions to the prevailing
challenges in our society.

The past conferences mainly had a problem of resolution

implementation which requires us to go an extra mile say appointing
a dedicated group or team of individuals to follow up the
implementation of our conference the resolutions. Part of the work
the team will do is to evaluate the impact of the conference and
make subsequent recommendations.
 7

relationship between the Industrial sector and the Engineering

sector. Also, the need to encourage students to take up sciences
right from early levels of their education.

During my tenure as president, we carried out massive mobilization

through all cadres i.e. undergraduates, branch members that were
instrumental in the history of the UIPE. It was a peak period of
registration of Engineers into the Association (2001/2002)

Challenges
There are a number of challenges met in the engineering field. For
the association particularly, our membership is still low compared to
the number of Engineers practicing. There is also need to improve
the quality of construction materials through imposing proper
regulation on the materials supplied to the industry. Yet more, the
area of research has not been tackled. There is need to encourage
more research in the engineering sector which has been dormant
compared to the other sectors say agriculture.

On the upcoming conferences

Eng. Alex Gisagara is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from
Makerere University. He also has a master's degree in Engineering
from the same University. He is a specialist in urban Water & Waste
Water Engineering and has a working experience of 24 years. He
first worked in Sugar Engineering in Moshi Tanzania and Lugazi.
For the past 17 years, he has been working in the water industry as
the Chief Engineer for National Water & Sewerage Corporation. He
was a Vice President for the UIPE from 1999 to 2001 after which he
became President in 2001/2002.
The upcoming conferences should devise strategies that will enable
members improve the engineering ethics and encourage more
technical know how in the construction industry. Also the need to
ensure that the quality of engineering works is good enough through
site inspection is very paramount.
Lastly, it is my greatest desire to see the work on the technology
building resume.

Comment on past Technology Conferences

When we started these conferences, the papers presented mainly
focused on the needs in the Engineering sector. The quality and
content of the presentations was very good and highly valued.
However overtime, this has gone down and we need to address
this.

Memorable occurrences.
I still remember vividly the international conferences I attended and
the impact they had on me. There is one we had in Harare for the
Federation of African Engineers. The representatives were from
SADC countries and the main topic for discussion was on how to
improve Engineering Ethics and practice. The other conference is
when I also represented UIPE in the East Africa Federation for
Engineers. I cannot underrate the impact they had on me and it is
from these conferences that I strongly recommend a close working
 8
Interviews
Seeking solutions, to the challenges
of the engineering profession in
Uganda
The 11th National Technology Conference is set to be unique;
this is owing to the wide spectrum of professionals ranging
from engineers, contactors, architects, policy makers, local
authorities, surveyors, lawyers among a host of others. This
year's conference theme is " Challenges of the Engineering
Profession in Uganda." Eng. Ayub Sooma CEng. MIET (UK),
R.Eng (U), MUIPE Chairman, 11th National Technology
Conference, Steering Committee, outlines the focus of the
conference.
Qtn: What factors motivated the choice of the theme
"Challenges of the Engineering Profession in Uganda"?
Ans: The theme was chosen because the 11th National
Technology Conference (NTC) is set to focus on the current
challenges in the engineering profession in Uganda. It is
imperative to note from the outset that the conference will not
only articulate the challenges, but also act as a forum to seek
possible solutions to the challenges facing the engineering
fraternity.
Qtn: What are some of the critical issues facing the
engineering profession in Uganda today?
Ans: The issues impacting on the engineering fraternity are
wide ranging. The most recent revolve around on-site
accidents involving collapsing buildings, poor quality building
materials, and the now incessant energy crisis, the often
flouted ethics and integrity in the profession, and a generally
unfavourable working environment.
Qtn: The issues outlined will lead the evolution of certain
guiding principles what are some of the anticipated
outcomes?
Ans: The conference will come up with guiding principles to
policy makers, in key areas such as protection of human life
and property on-site in Uganda. Furthermore it is imperative
to note that the key role of an engineer is to create wealth, this
should however not be at the cost of lives. Therefore, the 11th
National Technology Conference will seek to draw from the
current experiences a set of guiding principles in critical areas
such as the present energy shortage. It will thus establish a
basis for debate on major issues affecting the engineering
fraternity.
Qtn: Some of the challenges facing the engineering
profession are similar throughout the region. Do engineers
from the region have a role to play in the conference?
Ans: Indeed, the conference will attract professionals from the
neighbouring countries. These participants will accord the
conference a regional dimension. Just as pointed out, some
of Uganda's engineering challenges are similar to those
experienced by the professionals in the neighbouring
countries. Forv instance the challenge of massive traffic jams
is not only unique to Kampala but other regional; capitals as
well.
Qtn: The issue of building materials has sparked debate
across Uganda. Key players in the building and construction
industry have discussed it in different fora, will the 11th
National Technology Conference tackle this issue, kindly
explain
Ans: Building materials are critical components in the building
industry. The industry is one of the fastest growing in the
country to date. This is an indicator of sound economic
growth. However, it has been observed that building material
standards have not been accorded due priority, not until
 9

recently when structures began collapsing in the country. Qtn: Describe the conference format?
Though it is important to state that the collapse may not only Ans: The 11th National Technology Conference, will adopt a
necessarily be attributed to the standards of building materials highly interactive format so as to ensure that the participants
but also to one or more of the following factors, a cross- contribute to the debate optimally. There will also be a feed
section of which the conference will handle: back on the 10th National Technology Conference this will
a) Poor workmanship accord the conference the much needed continuity and focus.
The 250 or more professionals will thus have their
b) Lack of professional supervision discussions recorded and set for possible action by the
relevant stakeholders.
c) Questionable designs
Qtn: What is your message to the stakeholders in the
Qtn: Most industry players have pointed out during previous engineering fraternity?
stakeholder meetings that the legislative environment ought
to be addressed. What is your view as Chairnan of the 11th Ans: I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt
National Technology Conference? appreciation to the members of the UIPE Council. We all look
forward to a successful conference, marked by the UIPE's
Ans: The Engineering Act needs to be amended to reflect inaugural journal.
existing realities. It is noteworthy that this crucial fact ought to
be addressed with the urgency it deserves since without its
amendment no policy suggestions or guiding principles can
be implemented. There should be an enforceable strict code
of conduct for engineers to practice their profession in the
country. For example there have been cases of pseudo
engineers executing major engineering works that have in
some cases collapsed occasioning loss in both human life
and destructing of property. What are the penalties prescribed
for such flagrant violations? Policy makers ought to be part
and parcel of the engineering fraternity. This leads to effective
co-ordination in the sector.

Qtn: This conference will bring together different sets of

professionals yet it is essentially an engineering event. Any
particular reason?

Ans: Engineers do not work in a vacuum, a series of

professionals are involved in any job for instance in the
construction of a building, architects , contractors, quantity
surveyors among others are involved. Professionals, by their
very nature interact frequently. The 11th National Technology
Conference is cognizant of this fact and firmly believes that
the link between engineers and other professionals is just like
a chain which leads to a set outcome.

Qtn: Some professionals, once they graduate from various

institutions of learning do not see the need for any form of
professional development. What is the view of the 11th
National Technology Conference on this subject?

Ans: The Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers (UIPE)

undertakes Continuous Professional Development seminars
for all its members. This is in taking cognizance of the
importance of professional development. Furthermore in
starting early, the institute undertakes career guidance
discussions on engineering in schools in different parts of the
country.
 10
Papers
Introduction
The water supply and sanitation sector was identified by the
Government of Uganda as one of the priority areas of intervention
to eradicate poverty [1]. The National Water Policy [2] identifies the
main technologies for rural and peri-urban communities to include
point sources including protected springs, shallow wells with hand
pumps, boreholes, and gravity-fed piped schemes, also known as
gravity flow schemes (GFS). GFS have been widely promoted and
established in areas where there are continuously flowing and
perennial water sources, such as springs or natural streams, at a
higher altitude than the supply area. Construction of GFS involves
protection of the water source by intercepting its natural flow, then
collecting the water into a distribution reservoir. The water is then
fed into a network of pipes that supply the downstream
communities. Source protection may include some form of
treatment such as sedimentation and/or filtration, drainage of
surface runoff, and fencing off the catchment area to prevent
activities upstream that may compromise the quality of water.
Shuuku gravity flow scheme was constructed in the early 1980s to
supply rural communities in Shuuku Sub-County in Bushenyi
District with safe water. The population of Shuku Sub-County grew
with time and in 2001, the scheme was redesigned and improved to
supply the then population of 4000 inhabitants and six educational
institutions [3].
Water abstraction is done by interception of a natural stream in
Nyakabwera Hills (photograph 1). The water is channelled
successively through a roughing filter, sedimentation tank and slow
sand filter to improve the water quality before distribution. The yield
of the stream was determined as 0.004m³/s having been measured
during the dry season. For design purposes, only 0.0026m³/s was
used [3]. On March 03, 2005 the Uganda Bureau of Statistics
released a national report on the impact of poverty eradication
programs [4]. The report revealed that environmental degradation,
in terms of deforestation and diminishing wetlands, is on the
increase in areas where poverty alleviation has been most effective.
Developments cannot be sustainable if they lead to increased
poverty alleviation while at the same time adversely impacting the
environment. Water supply developments being part of the
considered measures for poverty eradication must be critically
assessed to determine their contribution to environmental
degradation. It is for this reason that this paper seeks to assess the
possible role of GFS in local environmental degradation.
Description of the Project Area
Shuuku Sub-County is located in Bushenyi District in the South-
Western part of Uganda. Shuuku GFS supplies communities in
some parishes of the Sub-County, namely Kishaabya, Kyempitsi,
Butsibo, and Kashozi. The terrain varies from hilly to plain ranges
(photograph 1). The area experiences an average annual rainfall of
about 1,200mm. The main economic activities include farming,
both arable and livestock, and retail trade activities in the trading
centres.
Problem Definition
Shuuku Sub-County, like most other rural areas of Uganda, does
not have a system in place for gathering hydrological and
meteorological data on its catchments. As a result, designs are not
based on long historical time series but more on instantaneous yield
measurements and assumptions. The limitations of the latter
method result in uncertainty in determination of safe yields
especially if done during rainy periods. Thus, the downstream flow
regime of the Nyakabwera Stream has already been observed to
cease during the dry season and has reduced tremendously even
during the rainy season. It is feared that the wetlands downstream
are diminishing in extent, and this may affect both the local climate
and the ecosystem of this area. The Nyakabwera Stream and
several other streams in the region are harnessed for GFSs. They
finally drain into the River Rwizi. Reduced downstream discharges
from the streams naturally results in falling river stage of the Rwizi,
and it is not known whether this is resulting in irreversible
deterioration of the ecosystems that depends on the river and the
streams. Also, since the development of this GFS is similar to the
development of other GFSs in the country, the combined
environmental impact here described may be significant. The last
problem relates to wastage, where it has been noted that more
water than designed is abstracted. The excess water eventually
overflows at the subsidiary reservoirs in the distribution system.
The lack of overflow controls for the reservoirs is a major omission
in most of the GFS designs seen today, and the resulting wastage
is not restricted only to Shuuku but occurs in most other GFSs
constructed throughout the country.
Design Aspects of Shuuku GFS
Table 1 summarises the information considered during the design of
Shuuku gravity flow scheme. The design provided for three check
dams upstream of the abstraction point to prevent debris and large
sediments from reaching the intake and choking the system. A
rectangular weir intake was designed with a straining steel mesh
draining into a roughing filter. The roughing filter was filled with rock
boulders and equipped with overflow pipes to allow excess water to
flow downstream. The roughing filter feeds into two sedimentation
tanks through to a slow sand filter that drains into a 60m3
distribution reservoir. The reservoir was sized for peak demand and
is augmented by two reservoirs in the distribution network, each
with a capacity of 20m3. The network was designed with 28 tap
stands to serve the community and the institutions. The construction
cost was approximated at US$65,000 [3].
Special Construction Features
During construction of Shuuku GFS, the intake was considered
sensitive due to its vulnerability to flooding and accumulation of
sludge. As such, several improvements were made in the design to
minimise this risk. The incoming stream was equipped with three
check dams in form of rectangular weirs installed with screens in
form of steel bars. During construction a silt trap was included just
before the roughing filter. Here, a diversion to a flood channel was

constructed to prevent flooding of the filters during periods of heavy
rains. The roughing filters were installed with overflow pipes. It was
considered that only the water needed in the supply area would be
maintained through the system, while the excess water (over the
design yield) would spill over and continue flowing in the original
stream. In GFSs where the source is a natural spring, the spring
eyes are identified by excavating around the spring area. The eyes
are protected and channelled into a collection box. The collection
box is installed with overflow pipes. Similarly in this case, the
consideration is that only the design yield would be flowing into the
distribution system while the water in excess of the design yield
would overflow to maintain the water supply downstream of the
source.
Assessment of the Current Situation
In Uganda today, the design assumptions made, and provisions
during construction for maintaining the flow downstream of the
source have in many cases not translated into downstream flow for
most of the constructed GFSs. The Nyakabwera Stream for the
Shuuku GFS is no exception, and the stream has become
seasonal. The stream can only be sustained for a short period after
heavy rains. Photograph 2 shows a photograph taken in March
2005, when the area was receiving moderate rains. It is taken at a
point where the stream used to cross the main feeder road.
However, even at this time the stream was dry as can be seen in the
photograph.
The vast hinterland for this stream no longer benefits from the
stream and the swamp that was fed by this stream is diminishing.
The swamp in question serves as one of the water sources feeding
into River Rwizi, a major river in the area, running through three
districts and from where Mbarara Town gets its water supply. The
local farmers who used to water their livestock from the
Nyakabwera Stream have now reverted to hand dug ponds in the
swamps, which practice is only exposing the water resource in the
swamps to a further risk of depletion. On visiting Shuuku and other
GFSs that have been constructed, it has been established that the
provisions made to maintain the downstream flow do not serve the
purpose. Water continues to flow into the distribution system most
of the time, without overflowing at the source as expected. When
not simply overtopping the distribution reservoirs, the excess water
is used for applications that were not considered in design. These
include irrigation and livestock watering by some of the inhabitants
of the supply area. More water is wasted through spillage at the
water collection points and through leakages in the system.
Nyakabwera hills, Shuuku Sub-County in background
11
However, the most significant loss was identified at the storage
tanks in the distribution network, which overflow without any control
when a tank fills up. These in effect shift the stream to where it was
not originally flowing, where it is lost through seepage and
evapotranspiration.
Recommendations
To ensure balanced development which provides for the water
supply needs of the communities without compromising the
environmental integrity, the use of design yields as low as 50% of
the measured yields are suggested in order to reduce design
uncertainty. More so, such measurements should be done in the
driest months to ensure they are as close as possible to the safe
yields. This allows increased safety factors where the span of the
historical data is unreliable. However, it is important for the relevant
authorities to initiate the monitoring of flows for all the potential
sources. If the design and construction provisions to maintain a
downstream flow at the source are to serve their purpose, overflow
controls in the systems have to be included in designs and
construction. The simplest mechanism is the installation of float
valves at inlets to all the reservoirs, break pressure tanks, and
cisterns. A float valve cuts off supply when the tank fills up. It is
recommended that environmental concerns be given as much
attention in all phases of the project development, including design,
construction, operation and maintenance, and during monitoring of
the performance of the GFS. Monitoring has been done for the
technical and management aspects of the schemes. Monitored
aspects of the GFSs should include environmental impacts. This
would allow for timely corrective or preventive measures before the
impacts reach irreversible levels.
Table 1. Design parameters for Shuuku GFS [3]
Parameter Quantity
Safe Yield, m³/s 0.004
Design Period, years 0.020
Design Domestic Demand, m³/c/day 0.025
Design Institutional Demand, m³/c/day 0.006
Design Domestic Population, no. 6773
Design Institutional Population, no. 4549
Average Water Demand, m³/s 0.0026
Peak Demand, m³/s 0.0047
The dry Nyakabwera stream. Notice the exposed water pipe.
 12
Application of the Road
Investment Models In Uganda
Introduction
The Performance Assessment Model (PAM) and Road Economic
Decision (RED) models were introduced to the Ministry of Works,
Housing & Communications in Uganda in the year 2003 by the
Road Management Initiative (RMI) of the Sub-Saharan Transport
Policy Programme. This was undertaken to enable the road sub-
sector prepare reports on the trend and direction of the
Maintenance management reforms in the country.
The PAM and RED models are also being used to come up with
cursory estimates of road maintenance requirements, road network
performance monitoring indicators and analysing road maintenance
strategies.
The results of the assessment done using these models are only
indicative and represent the trends in a first step assessment of the
maintenance regime and conditions of the road network. For a more
thorough assessment, higher generation models such as HDM-4
need to be put to use.
1 Description of the Models
1.1 PAM Model
The PAM is a tool developed to carry out strategic network analysis
mainly in order to: -
• Determine the funding requirements of the entire road asset
under two scenarios i.e. 'maintaining status quo' and 'desirable
maintenance condition';
• Impacts of funding various funding scenarios i.e. increase in
vehicle operating costs (VOCs), total transport costs (agency and
VOCs), shadow costs of funding deficits, benefits of improving
current network condition etc;
The analysis is carried out on a representative road network matrix.
The national road network was divided into 'condition families' as
surrogate units to manage the entire network. A 'condition family'
contains segments of roads of approximately the same condition
index and furthermore, pavements within a family are assumed to
deteriorate in the same manner requiring the same type of
maintenance treatments when falling below standard. The road
network matrix comprises of combined homogeneous segments
(length of road network for which road condition and surface type
attributes are constant) into a matrix of representative sections.
Each of the representative sections in the matrix represents a large
number of real sections (often thousands of kilometers of roads)
scattered around the road network, each of which has similar
characteristics of condition and surface type. Instead of each of the
constituent sections being analyzed separately, just the
representative section (whose length is the sum of the constituent
sections) is analyzed.

The major advantage of this approach is the fast turn-around that it
facilitates in respect to the ability to iterate to a preferred
solution/strategy relatively quickly.
1.2 RED Model
The RED Model is another tool developed by the World Bank to
mainly carry out economic evaluation of road investments and
maintenance operations particularly for low volume roads. This
model has now has up to four modules (Main economic evaluation,
VOC, Risk Analysis and Program Evaluation Modules) of which the
relevant one for the PAM analysis is the VOC Module.
In the PAM analysis, the VOC Module is used to calculate the VOCs
per vehicle - km that are then used as input to the PAM. These
figures or numbers are used for PAM economic analyses as well as
the computation of total VOCs on the entire network.
2 Data requirements for PAM analysis
In order to carry out a PAM analysis, the following data
requirements are essential: -
• Homogeneous road network matrix by road condition and
surface type (derived from road inventory and condition
surveys). This data is now captured on an annual basis by
District Engineers at Information Quality Level - 4 (IQL-4);
• Routine and Periodic Maintenance planning unit costs. This data
is determined from historical bid rates of works let out to private
contractors;
• Vehicle Operating Costs input data for the RED Model e.g.
vehicle, fuel, tyre, lubricant, maintenance labour and crew costs
etc. This data is collected by headquarters dealers from vendors
of vehicles, fuel and lubricants, garages and transporters; and
• Aggregated average traffic levels for the different road surface
types. This is based on data from traffic counts carried out on an
annual basis on most of the national road network system.
As a normal practice, the Ministry now carries out annual road
condition and traffic surveys as well as the collection of VOC
information, which serves as useful input to the PAM analysis. Data
collection represents a significant effort in the operation of the PAM
so that valid outputs are derived from its reports.
Notwithstanding the need for accurate data if PAM is to be
meaningfully utilized, it should be noted that the data needed is the
basic minimum for the operation of a pavement management
system (PMS). It therefore seems reasonable that for any agency
with an operational pavement management system, it is very easy
to create the required data to operate the PAM. The major
difference between the data requirements of PAM and any
conventional PMS is the quantity and quality of data needed with
the PAM system demanding the basic minimum.
3 Modeling Road Deterioration
Pavement deterioration is modeled for each homogeneous sub-
network by means of a probabilistic models making use of transition
13
matrices. A transition matrix specifies, for a homogeneous sub-
network, the proportion of that sub-network that deteriorates from
one condition band to the following worse condition band every
year.
The above matrix indicates, for instance, that 60% of the roads (that
are in V. Good Condition this year) will remain in V. Good condition
the next year and 40% of it will deteriorate to condition band 'Good'.
Each value in the matrix is known as a transition probability (i.e.
transition probability Pij indicates the probability of a pavement in
condition band 'i' to move to condition band 'j' in any one year). The
PAM uses constant factor transition probabilities of 0.9:0.1 and
0.7:0.3 for paved and unpaved roads.
Therefore, based on the present road network condition profile, the
next year's network condition can be determined by operating the
current condition vector with the transition matrix.
4 Definition and costing of treatment strategies
The most challenging and difficult part of using the PAM is the
determination of the treatment costs in step 3 of the figure 1 above.
Whereas each of the above five steps is very important towards
obtaining meaningful results from the PAM analysis, step 3 may be
the most important. Pavement maintenance standards define when
and how pavements should be maintained, and therefore have an
important impact on the definition of budgets.
The unit costs for the PAM model are built up based on the 'Water
Pump Model' above i.e. the user to define the type of
treatments/activities needed to improve a road from one condition
to a better one.
As shown, one needs a bigger pump to improve a road from very
poor condition to excellent compared to improving from very poor to
fair (due to larger difference in elevation). Similarly, the costs of the
pumps needed to do these tasks are guided by the same principle.
This principle is extended to the application of the PAM model to
define the activities required to improve a road from one condition
to a better one and as such the required costs. The major finding in
the costing of the various treatment strategies was the following:
• If pavements can be repaired while still in 'fair' condition, repair
costs are generally about one-third the cost of repairing roads in
poor condition. This significantly reduces the overall life-cycle costs
of that road. In this respect, pavement preservation is a cost
effective strategy for maintaining the national road network with
immediate savings of up to 70% of costs not to mention the savings
in VOCs.
5 Outputs from the PAM analysis
The PAM provides many useful reports in the form of excel
spreadsheets for the two analysis scenarios (i.e. maintaining
existing network condition and achieving desirable network
condition) and they include the following: -
 14
• Routine Maintenance funding required;
• Required physical activities to compensate deterioration;
• Periodic Maintenance Funding required;
• Total VOCs.
Other important reports provided by the analysis are: -
• Optimal road condition as a function of traffic;
• Desirable maintenance condition of the road network;
• Minimization of economic impact of funding gap; and
• Funding impact on road condition.
6 PAM analysis output for Uganda
The analysis of the Ugandan national (trunk road network) yielded
the following results for the two analysis scenarios defined earlier: -
1. Assessment of Scenario 1: Maintaining Existing Condition
The objective is to assess the funding levels required to sustain the
existing road network in its present condition. The assessment
determines the minimum cost of compensating for the deterioration
of the network i.e. maintaining the existing network at the current
conditions. The calculation is based on the maintenance standards
determined by the Ministry.
• Routine Maintenance Requirements
Table 4: Routine Maintenance Need of 'Existing Road Network'
(USD 1000 per Year)
• Periodic Maintenance Requirements
Table 5: Periodic Maintenance Funding Need of 'Existing Road
Network' (USD 1000 per year)
• Required Periodic Maintenance Activity
Table 6: Periodic Maintenance Activity for 'Existing Road Network'
(Km per year)
• Total Vehicle Operating Costs
Table 7: Total Road User VOC existing network (USD 1000 per
year)
The total vehicle operating costs for the existing network condition
profile is derived from the calculation below: -
Table 8: Total Annual VOCs - Scenario 1 (m US$)
2. Assessment of Scenario 2: Achieving Desirable Network
Condition
The objective is to assess the funding levels required to sustain the
condition of the 'Desirable' road network. In this 'Desirable' network,
existing roads are maintained using existing design standards
(gravel, bituminous and AC road design standards are unchanged).
The 'desirable' maintenance condition of roads is optimised and
justified by traffic volumes and savings in vehicle operating costs.
Again the assessment puts focus on determination of the minimum
cost of compensating for the deterioration of the network i.e.
maintaining and sustaining the 'Desirable' network conditions. The
calculation is based on the maintenance standards determined by
the Ministry.
• Routine Maintenance Requirements
Table 9: Routine Maintenance Need of 'Desirable Network' (USD
1000 per year)
• Periodic Maintenance Requirements
Table 10: Periodic Maintenance Funding Need of 'Desirable
Network' (USD million per year)
• Required Periodic Maintenance Activity

Table 11: Periodic Maintenance Activity for 'Desirable Network' per
year (Km)
• Total Vehicle Operating Costs
Table 12: Total Road User Vehicle Operating Costs of 'Desirable
Network' (1000 USD per year)
The total vehicle operating costs for the desirable network condition
profile is derived from the calculation below: -
Table 13: Total Annual VOCs - Scenario 2 (m US$)
6.1 Comparison of the two analysis scenarios
• The cost of maintaining the total road network at the existing
condition is now estimated at US$65.75 million (US$22.76m and
US$42.99m for routine and periodic maintenance respectively). The
comparative cost of maintaining the road network at the 'desirable'
condition is US$45.75m (US$10.74m and US$35.01m for routine
and periodic maintenance respectively);
• Despite the fact that it is cheaper to maintain roads in the
'desirable' network condition by US$20m, it is worth noting that it
requires approximately US$160m of rehabilitation and periodic
maintenance interventions to achieve this. Government cannot
afford to raise these resources in the present circumstances i.e.
funding limitations, construction absorptive capacity etc;
• The saving in VOCs for improving the road network from the
'existing' condition to the 'desirable' condition is US$ 113m in one
year alone. In the long term, it is quite viable to invest US$ 160m to
improve the road network to the 'desirable' condition and save more
than US$ 113m (US$ 74.2m due to Gravel roads and US$ 38.6m
due to Paved Roads as shown in Figure 2) annually. In this respect,
each Ugandan motorist spends an extra US$ 402.72 annually in
15
VOCs as a result of driving on roads in need of repair. The current
maintenance funding for national roads stands at US$32 million,
which indicates that there is a large maintenance-funding shortfall
with respect to both scenarios. To the extent that this is not
forthcoming the road condition of the road network in Uganda is
deteriorating and the heavy investment in roads being lost.
6.2 Assessment of impact of funding deficits
The cost implication of the various national road maintenance
funding scenarios in terms of VOCs incurred by road users is as
shown in Table 11 below. The cost of maintenance for the desirable
road condition, of about US$45.75 million, corresponds to the 0%
deficit level of funding. The cost of maintaining the existing
conditions is at about US$65.75 million, of national roads were
allocated USD 32 million for the FY 2003/04.
The current funding level of US$32 million per year corresponds to
a 30% deficit on the 'desirable network'. The shortfall in the long run
leads to a deterioration of the network (backlog build-up) and
increased road user operating cost.
Table 14: Impact Assessment of Budgetary Shortfalls wrt to
'Desirable Funding levels
From table 11 and the chart above, for every US$1 dollar of
maintenance expenditure held back, each road user incurs an
additional US$3.58 in VOC. The chart also brings out two main
issues: -
• As the funding levels go on dwindling, the VOCs increase; and
• Road Users carry a huge burden in terms of VOCs compared to
the Road Agency Costs as shown by the scale on the Y-axis.
In terms of propagation of the maintenance backlog (i.e. roads in
Very Poor condition), the table below shows the impact of various
funding deficits: -
Table 15: Impact of Funding Level on Maintenance Backlog (Km)
The table above shows the progression and buildup of the
maintenance backlog as funding levels decrease. For Uganda, the
National Road Maintenance backlog is estimated at approximately
 16
3,000 - 3,500km, which is consistent to a good extent with the
model predictions.
6.2 Use of PAM and RED Outputs
The outputs from the PAM and RED model analysis have been used
by the Ministry for the following: -
• Carrying out rapid and simple assessments of Network needs
(Routine Maintenance and Periodic Maintenance);
• Impact of Funding Deficits (on maintenance backlog, network
condition, VOCs and TTCs);
• Preparation of simple and effective reports for management;
• Deriving performance indicators for the national road network
e.g. VOCs (US$)/Veh-Km, Total VOCs etc.
6.3 Benefits of PAM/RED Analysis
Amongst the benefits of being able to utilize the above models are
the following: -
• Decision makers appreciate the value of the data collected
annually (traffic and road condition) and the practice of data
collection is now entrenched in our policy documents and budgeted
for on an annual basis;
• Ministry has been able to carry out strategic planning analysis of
the national road network that consists of approximately 400 links in
a few minutes, instead of the usual weeks or months required for
traditional analyses using models such as HDM-4 etc;
• The model provides the Ministry with a flexible tool that can
assist with the definition of network maintenance programme and
corresponding priorities in a significantly reduced time period and
consequently cost;
• Model has been instrumental in strengthening relationships
between the Ministry, the Finance Ministry, development partners as
well as political institutions by providing information and
demonstrating the consequences of various funding scenarios;
• The outputs of this Model have been useful in influencing
Government policies and attitudes toward maintenance funding.
Examples of policy changes include the decision to seek additional
external funding support for road maintenance; regularized data
collection regime to allow monitoring of maintenance requirements;
etc;
• The Model has been useful in providing input towards the annual
Performance Indicators e.g. VOCs/veh-km, Total VOCs etc.
6.4 Drawbacks
• The key to this analysis is to derive a representative road
network matrix that reflects the composition of the road network as
accurately as possible. This is not always possible for low
hierarchical roads such as district and urban roads. As such they
are not included in the analysis;
• There is need to calibration the road condition regression or
transition transformations to local conditions. The default
transformations can easily provide misleading results;
• There is need to create an automatic linkage between the RED-
VOC module and the PAM model;
• The current model does not support scenario analyses with
budget constraints or long term assessments;
• The IQL can compromise the quality of outputs from the models.
7 Conclusion
The absence of simple operational road management systems to
articulate the consequences of these road-funding trends to
politicians and financiers in a robust manner has often failed the
Ministry in winning its argument for more funding. Complex models
such as HDM-4 whereas more accurate have tended to alienate
decision makers because of the complexity of its outputs. The PAM
provides a simple approach to the assessment of road requirements
together with rich reports on impacts of various scenarios. Whereas
insufficient funding for the national road network has been the case
for some time since 1994, it was not possible until the introduction
of the PAM model to carry out rapid assessments of the impacts of
government funding decisions. This model has assisted the Ministry
articulate to politicians and finance Ministry officials the
consequences of continued under-funding for road maintenance to
the extent the some of Government's policies have changed.
Although the PAM model has been implemented, it is not the end. It
is a living system that needs to be updated with information on new
circumstances surrounding road management for new updated
analyses on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, it is important that the
information derived from the analysis is put to use especially in
regard to funding otherwise the system will become obsolete.
References
1. The Updated 10 - Year Road Sector Development Programme
(RSDP-2: 2001/02 - 2010/11) of March 2002, publication of the
Government of Uganda;
2. National Road Network Performance Report for Financial Year
2002/03 of October 2003, publication of the Ministry of Works,
Housing & Communications;
3. Application of the Performance Assessment Model (Revised
National Roads Maintenance Estimates) of October 2003,
publication of the Ministry of Works, Housing & Communications;
4. Short User Guide for RMI Performance Assessment Model
(PAM) Ver 1 of March 2003;
5. Short User Guide on the use of the RED model for estimation of
Vehicle Operating Cost inputs to the RMI Performance
Assessment Model of October 2002;
6. Andras I. Bako, Zoltan Horvath: Decision Support Model for
Highway Maintenance;
7. Gasper, L: Highway Pavement Performance models, 9th
International Conference on asphalt pavements, Copenhagen.
CD-ROM Proceedings.
 18
Large buses for greater kampala
"A sure fight against traffic jams"
BY
M.K.TIBABIGANYA
High lights
• There is a nauseating traffic crisis in kampala
• Dubious operators of the large buses are being lined up
• Utoda is brandishing political clout but has no relevant
capacity,cohesion and professonalism for operating large buses
• Relocation of terminals increases passenger trnsfer agonies
INTRODUCTION
Professional practices must guide the introduction of large buses in
grater Kampala to ensure reasonable speeds; reliability of services;
acceptable frequencies; safety and security of occupants and
affordable fares for the users etc. The East African region has only
a few transport pundits with relevant local experience but they rarely
appear on such delicate and expensive projects hence the current
human and monetary wastage in public transport of the region with
Uganda taking the last position
A glance at the urban commuter transport requirement for Kampala
shows a fleet of 6000 minibuses costing over 300bn/=.The same
commuter can effectively be moved by only 500 buses costing only
60bn/=.The minibuses will soon lower the peak hour speed of the
entire inner Kampala to less than one kph while the large buses
have the capacity to increase the same speed to over 14kph on the
most congested roads. Damage caused to the city by micro buses
in lost time, environmental degradation and accidents etc will soon
cost the country 1 trillion shillings a year but that of large buses can
not go beyond 500m/= during the same period. Fuel and spares for
the minibuses are four fold those of large buses.
STREET CAPACITIES
Street capacity studies indicate that a road of 4-meter exclusive
lanes can carry 2000 cars (6000passengers),800 minibuses(8000
passengers) and 500 large buses (50,000 passengers) per hour,
thus making the large buses capable of scavenging urban areas of
passengers in the shortest time possible. The pandemic traffic
thromboses of Kampala are aggravated by narrow streets, dormant
traffic signals, microbuses, street parking and improper high
conduct etc. A compact car takes 30sq meters at its
origin,60sq.meter en route,30sqm at its destination and 10sqm
when servicing or filling. This is a total of130sqm for only one or two
passengers per trip while 300sqm of road space for a large bus
provides movement for 100 passengers. A minibus takes 200sqm
and carrier only 14 passengers. Certainly we have no argument for
sustaining the use of small vehicles and microbuses of UTODA on
our narrow streets, nor is shifting offices a logical answer to the
traffic scleroses of the city.
RELOCATION OF OFFICES/INDUSTRIES
Unique intrinsic forces exist among upper and middle class
urbanites. They tend to get away from the city centres rigmarole by
shifting to high-class residences out of town e.g. Muyenga, Lubowa
and Ntinda etc leaving the low income earners clustered around
their work places of Kisenyi, Katwe and Mulago etc. Naturally
supermarkets are established near human agglomerations to make
shopping trips shorter and more convenient while industry and
whole sale premises get located outside the central business
districts. Improved traffic design is a very important factor in
adopting traffic flows to urban conditions. It permits maximum
utilization of space, orderly and safe flow of traffic and minimizes
negative impacts of traffic on other activities and the environment.
CHOICE OF OPERATORS
All public transport operators must be chosen along public and
professional criteria because users must have a clear knowledge of
the operators integrity and capabilities. Public transport is not run
like the tomato sales at St.Balikuddembe market where a tomato
decays and is thrown away without much loss but when a bus
decays while moving people, over 50 innocent people die in one
accident alone leaving no compensation for their dependants. The
integrity of the operators must be known because in the past, some
owners have connived with highway robbers to strip their own
passengers and buses bought with stolen money are believed to
get involved in fatal accidents or fail dismally. Bus operators must
be of high caliber.
THE RIGHT BODIES
We should have sustainable vehicles along the routes. Each bus
must carry over 90 seated and standing passengers. There are
three types of bodies from which to choose according to
geometrical elements of our streets. The standard bus will use most
of our roads but the double-decker carrying over 100 passengers
will not use roads with low overpass bridges. The articulated bus
carrying over 120 passengers will climb some of our steep roads
and does not offer comfortable rides but has higher line capacity
and lower cost per passenger per km. The road network has over
47 routes with adequate road design elements for the standard
buses and fewer routes for the other bodies. We have no special
treatment for buses because any street with less than four standard
lanes in each direction does not qualify for special bus lanes. The

stops, stages and terminals lack adequate dimensions, proper
location and need revamping plus facilities for waiting passengers
like shelters, benches, and free toilets etc. The stages must each
accommodate at least two large buses at any one time.
SERVICE AND FARES
A ten-meter wide zebra crossing to facilitate large numbers of
people crossing to catch a bus or reach their destinations must be
placed along the streets at intervals of 400 meters and opposite
schools and hospitals. The random street parking should be re-
designed to make it friendly to the urban traffic flows instead of the
current haphazard locations. The trip distribution of the Kampala
commuters in various social and economic struggles dictate a bus
service that starts at 4:00am and ends at 12:00 midnight on the
majority of the routes that join residential estates and industrial
locations. At times some of these routes have no single passenger
aboard but service must continue. Public transport is, in the main,
for the common man and must be designed in such a way in all
respects. The money magnets have other modes at their disposal.
Factory workers, students, petty traders and junior office workers
etc should reach their destinations punctually, safely and at
affordable fares etc. For the purpose of professional fare
calculations, the operator must find the average low-income
earnings and ensure that an average trip to work and back home of
the low-income earner does not cost over 17% of their daily income
because they must pay for essentials of life. Passengers must
always carry fares in the right denominations because a bus
conductor is not obliged to provide change.
EFFICIENCY & PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS
These buses should employ over 2500 workers, cover a minimum
of 200km per bus per day and carry at least 1000 passengers per
day per bus etc. these statistics for high quality operations can be
achieved only under professional guidance and consultants. The
operators should have route and quasi area monopolies so that
during peak hours the buses get full to crush capacity to maximize
revenue which cross-subsides low takings from slack periods. The
monopolies are a condition for running full routes and following
timetables at as low fares as 200/= for Ggaba-Kampala trip. In
public transport we have public service obligations. Students, the
handicapped, the young and members of the armed forces on duty
travel at reduced fares because the grandfathers and mothers of
this Uganda have helped to shape the nation's infrastructure and
therefore deserve a token of thanks on the buses. Now and again I
listen with dismay to appeals from patients soliciting funds for travel
for heart operations in Madras or Cape Town. Some of them keep
wailing until they die before even raising a penny; yet Mulago and
other hospitals were built by taxes of their parents. Investors perse
are not large operators since some of them invest in blood spillage
of their passengers with unprofessional practices. Government is
asked to come out clearly on the professional and patriotic
requirements of new operators and openly invite competent bidders
so that only the best candidates can steer Uganda from this
transport shame before the summit of the common wealth premiers.
Remember large buses and trains with traffic engineering measures
19
reduce traffic jams by over 80% but the current street widening
reduces the traffic thrombosis by only 20%.
OPEN BIDDING
A number of urban large aspiring operators I talked to want the
government and KCC to come out clearly on the status of UTODA
in Kampala parks and routes. The political clout brandished by
UTODA can not allow smooth transition without government
intervention and regulations. Importation and licensing of minibuses
should stop immediately and all minibuses, which are 15 years old
and above should be, converted into goods vehicles. UTODA has
no capacity, cohesion and professionalism of transiting from
microbuses to large buses hence the need for sourcing for
professional operators from out. Large buses are usually in small
numbers because of low demand arising out of their long life spans.
All together the new operator should introduce at least 200 large
buses annually so that by 2010 we have reasonable traffic
sensitization and affordable fares etc. It is also important that the
committee for the conference of the common wealth will include a
traffic expert.
May I appeal to the government to ensure major stages, terminals
and their facilities remain under the ownership and supervision of
government agencies or their representatives who have no stake in
the bus ownership so that all bonafide interests of bus operators
and users are attended to without blood shed at the change of
manager as witnessed in the past. With good planning and large
vehicles, shifting of terminals, offices and markets will come after
year 2040.a fully fledged transport college should start immediately
in the country and teach all the scopes of transportation (Planning,
Technology, Operations, Management &Finance)
LICENCING
In future P.S.V's licenses must clearly indicate;
1) Timetables 2) Route profiles
3) Stages or express 4) Fare levels
5) Drive/resting time 6) Urban/long route or country
etc
• Public Transport is as important as eating, drinking and sleeping.
All citizens should make their travel per capita with ease.
• All forms of partisan politics must not be allowed in any sector of
Public Transport.
 20
OWENFALLS DAM
BREAK SIMULATION
The impact of a potential Dam Break on the
Hydro Electric Power generation in Uganda
ABSTRACT:
Dams play a vital role in the economy of a
country by providing essential benefits like
irrigation, hydropower, flood control,
drinking water, recreation etc. However, in
the unlikely and rare event of failure, these
may cause catastrophic flooding in the
down stream area which may result in huge
loss to human life and property worth
billions of money.
The loss of life would vary with extent of
inundation area, size of population at risk,
and the amount of warning time available.
Also a severe energy crisis would befall a
nation whose energy is heavily dependent
on Hydro Electric Power. This would in the
long run hamper industrial progress and the
economic development of the nation.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Uganda is a young country which is heavily
dependent on Hydro Electric Power to feed
the National grid. Uganda's installed
capacity is 380MW after the extension of
the Owen Falls (Nalubaale) Dam Complex
in Jinja, Uganda. The Dam was formally
opened on Thursday 29th April 1954 by Her
Majesty the Queen Elizabeth of England as
one single investment that would lay the
foundation for Industrial development in
Uganda. It is a reinforced concrete gravity
dam with a design life of 50 years and is
located on the Victoria Nile River in the
southeast Uganda near Jinja. The old Owen
Falls (Nalubaale) Dam has a capacity of
180MW of Hydro Electricity. An additional
200MW of installed capacity was realised
after the completion of the Owen falls
Extension Project (Kiira Dam).
No structure is permanent however
advanced the construction and material
technologies employed. (Anderson et al,
2002; Fleming, 2001). According to the US
Association of Dam Safety Officials, the
average life expectancy for an un-
maintained dam is approximately 50years.
(Donnelly et. al., 2001). The Dam has
therefore outlived its design life of 50 years
and some serviceability failures are already
showing in form of cracks and leakages
within the Nalubaale Powerhouse Structure,
raising concerns about the safety of the
Dam in its current state. Though major
Dams are designed for a very low risk of
failure, it is important to note the risk
becomes more significant with age.
Therefore, as we ponder the current energy
crisis, it is important to keep in mind the risk
of failure and associated threats.
2.0 POTENTIAL FAILURE INCIDENTS
From the previous research, the types of
potential incidents that could occur to the
Dam complex are presented below. The
characteristics of the catchment and the
configuration and arrangement of the Owen
falls complex are unusual and heavily
impact the type and nature of the incidents
that could occur.
2.1 Earthquake Damage
The Dam lies in a relatively inactive Earth
Quake zone between the two more active
zones of the rift valley and the Rwenzori
Mountains. The Owen falls Dam complex
was designed to withstand with no damage
an Earthquake acceleration of 0.06g
(Operating Basis Earthquake, OBE) and
withstand with no failure an Earthquake
acceleration of 0.17g (MDE or Maximum
Design Earthquake).
These Earth quakes have a probability of
recurrence of 1,000 and 10,000 years
respectively and are applied as horizontal
(or of Vertical force).
However, this does not eliminate the
extremely remote possibility of a large
event. If a large event occurred, it could
cause instability of the intake dams or the
main concrete dam, stability failure of the
wing walls embankments adjacent to the
Kiira Power station or the cutting/
embankment forming the west bank of the
canal or damage leading to later failure.
2.2 Terrorist Attack
The Owen Falls Dam complex is
strategically located as a gateway linking
Uganda to the coast of Mombasa. Given its
strategic location and the damage that
could be inflicted by deliberate action, the
Owen Falls Complex must be regarded as a
terrorist target.

2.3 Sliding or Overturning of Concrete gravity sections
The failure of gravity sections, should it occur would be by;
i) Overturning (toppling) , (ii) Sliding, (iii)Combination of the two
The gravity sections were designed to international dam safety
standards. The configuration and height of the structures also
naturally limits the discharge that would result from a credible
failure. Stability failure is therefore unlikely, but a worst credible
event can be derived for purposes of generating a flooding event.
This can be assumed to be the collapse of Owen Falls Nalubaale
intake block at the level of the machine hall, the main Owen Falls
Dam complex or the Kiira Power station.
2.4 Embankment Instability
Embankment instability would take the form of settlement and/ or
slip circle failure. Any failure of this sort is likely to be progressive
and therefore gives some measure of warning. The embankments
like those adjacent to Kiira power station or the cutting/
embankment forming the west bank of the canal were designed and
assessed for stability. These assessments including settlement and
slip circle failure analysis were performed to modern safety
standards. Hence failure resulting embankment instability is highly
unlikely.
2.5 Embankment seepage failure
Embankment seepage failure would take the form of seepage
through the structure or foundation which increases and removes
material as the flow builds up leading to the development of a pipe
and ultimately to failure. Depending on the location of the seepage
outlet, some measure of warning may be expected. The
embankments like those adjacent to Kiira Power station, or the
embankment forming the West bank of the canal have been
designed and assessed for seepage failure. These assessments
were performed to modern safety standards and hence seepage
failure is unlikely. In addition, as with the forms of embankment
failure, the configuration and width of the canal would limit the
discharge resulting from a seepage failure.
3.0 MODELLING AND SIMULATION
A model is a simplified representation of a complex system.
Modelling refers to the work of making a simple description of a
system or process that can be used to explain it. Simulation refers
to the development and use of a computer model for evaluating
actual or postulated dynamic systems (McGraw-Hill, 1987c).
During simulation, a particular set of conditions is created artificially
in order to study or experience a system that could exist in reality.
Engineering models can be used for planning, design, operation
and for research.
3.1 DAM BREAK MODELLING
Dam break modelling consists of
i) Prediction of the outflow hydrograph due to the dam breach
ii) Routing of the hydrograph through the downstream valley to get
maximum water level and discharge along with the time of travel at
different locations of the river downstream of the dam.
21
Dam Break studies can be carried out using either (i) Scaled
physical hydraulic models or (ii) mathematical simulation using
computers. A modern tool for the dam break analysis is the
mathematical model which is most cost effective, and approximately
solves the governing flow equations of continuity and momentum by
computer simulation. Computer models such as SMPDBK,
DAMBRK and MIKE11 have been developed in the recent years,
however, these computer models are dependent on certain inputs
regarding geometrical and temporal characteristics of the breach.
The state-of-art in estimating these breach characteristics is not as
advanced as that of the computer programs and therefore, these
are limiting factors in the Dam Break Analysis
3.2 THE SIMPLIFIED DAM BREAK MODEL
The SMPDBK model was developed by Wetmore and Fread (1984)
at the National Weather Service (NWS) of the USA. This model
produces information needed for determining the areas threatened
by dam-break flood waters while substantially reducing the amount
of time, data, computer facilities, and technical expertise required in
employing more sophisticated unsteady flow routing models such
as the DAMBRK model. The NWS SMPDBK model computes the
dam break outflow from a simplified equation and routes the outflow
base on curves generated with the NWS DAMBRK model. Flow
depths are computed based on Manning's equation.
3.2.1 Data Requirements
i) Breaching Parameters (final height and width of breach)
ii) Breach formation time
iii) Non dam break flow (spillway/turbine/sluice gate/overtopping
flow)
iv) Volume of reservoir
v) Surface area of reservoir
vi) Manning's roughness coefficient for the river channel
downstream
vii)Elevation Vs. Width Data for up to five downstream river cross
sections
In producing the dam break flood forecast, the SMPDBK model first
computes the peak outflow at the dam, based on the reservoir size
and the temporal and geometrical description of the breach. The
computed flood wave and the channel properties are used in
conjunction with routing curves to determine how the peak flow will
be diminished as it moves downstream. Based on this predicted
flood wave reduction, the model computes the peak flows at
specified down stream points with an average error of less than
10%.
The model then computes the depth reached by the peak flow
based on the channel geometry, slope, and roughness at these
downstream points. The model also computes the time required for
the peak to reach each forecast point and, if the user entered a flood
depth for the point, the time at which that depth is reached as well
as when the flood wave recedes below that depth, thus providing
the user with a time frame for evacuation and fortification on which
the preparedness plan may be based.
 22
4.0 MODEL SETUP
4.1 Reservoir Data
Due to the hydraulic constraint at the former Rippon Falls, the
outflow from Lake Victoria will not significantly empty the lake in the
short term apart from the 2.8km reach from Rippon Falls to Owen
Falls. Therefore, this reach will act as the effective reservoir in the
short term (immediately after the breach)
Length of reach 2.8km (1.75mi)
Surface Area 0.884km2 (88.4acres)
Average Depth within Reach 12m (39.37ft)
Total live storage volume 10,600,000m3 (3480.315 acres-ft)
4.2 Flow Data
Nalubaale Power station
Turbine flow (10 turbines) 1200m3/s
Sluice gates flow (6 sluices) 1200m3/s
Kiira Power station
Turbine flow 1100m3/s
Three bay Spillway 1740m3/s
Victoria Nile
Average flow rate in Victoria Nile1154.175m3/s (Source: ADCP
flow data from WRMD)
4.3 Victoria Nile Channel Geometry and Model set up
The Victoria Nile Reach that has been modeled is 51km long and
comprises of 14 cross sections obtained from ADCP measurements
carried out along Victoria Nile and Napoleon Gulf in 2004 by the
WRMD of the DWD. Missing values of altitude along the Nile were
obtained by interpolation between known ones. Also missing cross
sectional data was modeled as average values of the known cross
sections. The average depth of water in the River Nile Model has
been taken as 5m. Also 1 in 50,000 topographic maps were
obtained from WRMD i.e; Jinja (sheet 71/1), Kagoma (sheet 62/3),
Kamuli (sheet 62/1), Kayonza (sheet 61/2) and Bale (sheet 51/4).
These were used to obtain distances along the Nile from Owen falls
dam to the particular points of interest.
5.0 DAM BREAK ANALYSES
Failure of the dam will most likely result from earth quake damage
of one of the concrete sections or from a terrorist attack (sabotage).
Therefore, we can consider breaching of the dam by considering
three scenarios;
i) Breaching of the Nalubaale Power station intake block
ii) Breaching of Kiira Power station intake block
iii) Breaching of the Main Owen falls Dam complex
The Owen Falls Nalubaale Intake Block can be considered as a
concrete gravity dam which will tend to fail by partial breaching as
soon as one or more of the monolithic concrete sections formed
during construction are removed by the escaping water. The time
required for breach formation in this situation is in the range of a few
minutes.
6.0 CONCLUSIONS
1. The Consequence of any breach at Owen Falls in the short term
would result into a sudden flood of up to 17365.93m3/s and a
subsequent increased steady flow in the Nile up to 5000m3/s
controlled by the Rippon falls
2. The 2.8km stretch of the Napoleon gulf would be emptied in
minutes and the extent of flooding would impact the reach of
Victoria Nile between Jinja and Lake Kyoga. The Attenuation of the
flows will occur at Lake Kyoga and Albert, hence limiting the
flooding effects downstream.
3. The Water level in Lake Victoria would significantly reduce and
hence affecting Water Supply, Water transport and fishing activities
in the Lake.
4. The following infrastructure would be potentially at Risk
i) Road bridge across the Owen falls Dam
ii) Road Bridge Across the new canal
iii) Njeru town main water supply crossing the Nalubaale Power
station intake, Owen falls dam, and the new canal bridge.
iv) Telecommunications landline from Kampala to Jinja
v) Fibre optic control line which connects the two control rooms in
the Nalubaale and Kiira power stations. This route crosses the
Owen falls Dam and runs along the left bank of the canal.
vi) Minor electric power line along the roadway
vii)Power and control cables to the sluices on the Owen Falls Dam
viii) Transmission lines at Jinja connecting Kiira Power station to the
switch yard at Nalubaale Power station
ix) New MTN fibre optic line installed in June 2003
5. A Serious energy crisis would result in the Nation
7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
1. There is need to carry out an immediate Dam Safety Analysis
2. There is need to carry out an inventory/Structure appraisal for
the Dam to ascertain its life span
3. Plans should be set to either decommission the dam or carry out
immediate renovation works.
4. Take account of the resulting flood in the design of the flood
control structures at Bujagali Dam

Eng. John Kagoro Tusubira
Mr. Ronnie Barongo
Abstract
The paper addresses the problem of radio
interference of FM broadcast transmitters to
aircraft radios. Examples of interference
cases in Uganda are given. The paper
traces the problem to a number of causes,
namely: the high power differential between
FM transmitters and aeronautical radio
transmitters, the lack of a guard band
between FM and aeronautical bands,
possible non-compliance of some aircraft
receivers with FM interference immunity
requirements and lack of consideration of
aircraft routes when allocating FM
broadcast frequencies. The paper ends with
possible remedies namely: protection of
flight routes by zoning, review of procedures
of allocation of frequencies in the FM
broadcast band, enforcement of aircraft FM
immunity requirements
1. Introduction
Due to the rapid growth of both aeronautical
and commercial broadcast services, the
number of interference cases involving
aircraft and commercial broadcast
emissions has increased dramatically.
Interference is usually most severe at
airports with high power FM and TV
broadcast facilities nearby. This paper
discusses the problem as it obtains in
Uganda.
The paper has five sections. The next
section discusses the form and effect of
interference. Section 3 address the causal
factors. Section 4 discusses interference
Radio Interference
to Aircraft
cases in aviation in Uganda and the efforts
to fight interference. The last section
suggests remedies.
2. Interference general
Radio interference affects aircraft
operations by corrupting communications
and navigation receivers.
Communication receivers experience
interference in the form of nuisance
background noise, actual intelligible
broadcast audio, and distorted or garbled
reception of the desired ground
transmissions. Interference to
communication receivers is immediately
detectable.
aeronautical band. The third is that some
On the other hand, navigation receivers aircraft receivers may not be complying with
experience nuisance audio, errors in course interference immunity requirements. The
deviation indicators and erroneous flag fourth factor is that the procedures for
indications. Interference to navigation allocation of TV and FM broadcast
receivers is very serious because it is frequencies may not be taking aircraft flight
potentially catastrophic especially when it routes into account. The issues are
occurs during approach or landing phases elaborated in 3.1 through 3.4.
of the aircraft's flight. Errors during
approach and landing can lead, at best to 3.1 Power Differential.
aborted landing and at worst, crashes. FM and TV broadcast stations typically
Interference to navigation receivers is not operate at 1-5 kilo watts while aeronautical
as easily detectable as interference to radios operate at 25 - 100 watts. This high
communication receivers. power differential leads to very low ratios of
Wanted to Unwanted signal at the aircraft
3. Causal factors receiver input. Ideally the ratio of Wanted to
There are mainly four factors that contribute Unwanted signal at the aircraft radio
to radio interference to aircraft. One is the receiver is +14 dB []. The high power
high power differential between commercial differential cited above could to ratios as low
broadcast FM / TV stations on one hand as -230 dB if the aircraft passes close to the
and aeronautical radio transmitters on the FM/TV station.
other. The second factor is the absence of a
guard band between FM broadcast and the 3.2 Guard Band
Regarding absence of a guard band, the

high end of the FM broadcast band is 107.9 MHz while the low end
of the aeronautical radio band is at 108.0 MHz. Thus there is a
difference of only 0.1 MHz. Yet spurious emission levels from
commercial transmitters are significant as far as 0.6 MHz away from
the allocated channel. Also, due operational necessity, the minimum
standards for aircraft receivers require them to be broad band.
3.3 Interference Immunity Requirements
Radio interference to aircraft has been a subject of concern both at
the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This has resulted in
the development of interference immunity criteria for aircraft
receivers. ICAO standards and recommended practices require that
from 1 January 1998 all aircraft receivers should meet FM
interference immunity requirements [Annex 10, Volume 3, part II:
2.3.3]. Under this requirement, an aircraft receiver should with stand
desensitization and third order inter-modulation effects from FM
broadcast signals of up to -5dBm..
3.4 Flight Routes
The procedures for spectrum allocation do not take aircraft
operations into account. As such, FM broadcast stations whose
frequencies have potential for causing interference to aircraft are
located in the vicinity of aircraft flight paths.
4. Situation in Uganda
There have been numerous reports of instances of communication
interference, but none of navigation interference. (The absence of
reported cases of navigation interference could be because they
have not been detected). The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has
been vigilant in fighting against radio interference.
The most recurring case of interference occurs on the Entebbe
approach frequency of 119.1 MHz. Another but less notorious case
has been on the Entebbe Tower frequency of 118.1 MHz. The
interference has presented in the form of complete blocking, and
highly intelligible reception of FM broadcast programmes such as
music and news. These have affected mostly airborne receivers but
some times even ground receivers have been affected. The Uganda
Communications Commission (UCC) has been helpful in identifying
the culprits.
In the particular case of the interference on 119.1 MHz, the cause
has been third- order inter-modulation products arising from two FM
broadcast stations in Kampala. The mechanism of third-order inter-
modulation products at work in this case is as follows: A second
harmonic of an FM broadcast frequency f1 beats with another FM
broadcast frequency f2 to produce a difference frequency f3 which
happens to coincide with the Entebbe approach frequency. That is
to say f3 = 2f1 - f2 = 119.1 MHz.
In order to contain the interference situation, CAA has taken the
following measures. One measure has been the acquisition and
application of equipment to help isolate radio interference. These
include a VHF Direction Finder (VDF) and a spectrum analyzer.
25
The second measure is the setting up of a mechanism for
documenting cases of interference. This has helped in the analysis
of interference and contribution to the global effort to fight against
radio interference to aircraft. The third measure is the maintenance
of coordination with the UCC. As stated before UCC has helped
isolate and combat interference sources.
5. Possible remedies
The interference problems discussed in the previous sections as
well as the reported successes in combating some of the problems
indicate that solutions are available. The possible remedies to the
interference problem are three-fold. First is the review of flight
routes vis-à-vis the locations and frequencies of FM transmitting
stations. The second is the review of frequency allocation
procedures. The third is the enforcement of interference immunity
requirements of aircraft receiver stations.
5.1 Flight routes and FM transmitters
A study of flight routes vis-à-vis FM broadcast frequencies and
location is necessary to develop criteria for protection of aircraft
receivers from interference. The study would lead to plotting of
zones in which certain FM broadcast frequencies should not be
permitted. Such a study would require collaboration with Uganda
Communications Commission, Civil Aviation Authority and the
Broadcasting Council.
5.2 Frequency Allocation Procedures
After studying flight routes and plotting the zones, subsequent
allocation of FM broadcast and aeronautical frequencies would take
these zones into account.
5.3 FM Immunity Requirements
The current licensing requirements for aircraft radio installations do
not specifically check for compliance with ICAO Annex 10 standards
and recommended practices including FM interference immunity
requirements. These requirements should be included in the
licensing procedures.
References
1. ICAO Annex 10 Volumes III and V
2. US FAA Order 6050.32A
3. ITU Radio Regulations
About the Authors
John Kagoro Tusubira is the Director of Air Navigation Services in
the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority. He is a corporate member (no
514) of UIPE and registered with Engineers Registration Board (no.
507). He has been in the aeronautical radio communication field
since 1979. He graduated from Makerere University with a
BSc(Eng) in 1979. He obtained an M.Eng from Makerere University
in 1998. Ronnie Barongo is a Senior Engineer in the department of
Technical Services in the Air Navigation Services Directorate of Civil
Aviation Authority. He joined CAA in 2001. He graduated with a
BSc(Eng) from Makerere University in 2000.
 26
Sub-standard Building
Materials:
A Challenge for
Engineers in Uganda
By Deusdedit Mubangizi,
Principal Standards Officer & Head, Quality Assurance Division
UGANDA NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS (UNBS)
The 11th National Technology Conference
May 2006, Kampala, Uganda
Abstract
The advent of globalisation, fuelled by technological advancement,
turned the world into a global village and forced many countries to
abandon their policies of state-controlled economies to embrace the
policies of economic and trade liberalisation. Global institutions like
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were created to ensure
through trade agreements, that goods traded across borders were
given similar treatment as goods manufactured and traded within
the borders of the originating countries. This development initially
evolved basing on the noble concept of fair trade.
However, whether unforeseen or not, trade liberalisation seems to
have outgrown its noble intentions and is spinning out of control.
Dubious manufacturers and traders have taken advantage of the
trade liberalisation policies, encouraged by ineffective controls in
poor countries and sometimes the "I don't care as long as they are
for export" attitude of the countries of origin, to dump all sorts of
fake, substandard, counterfeit and worthless products into markets
of developing countries.
On the local scene, unscrupulous business people, eager to make
a quick buck out of the liberalized economy started uncontrolled
manufacturing of all sorts of fake products in their backyards, while
others engaged in tampering with and adulterating the otherwise
good products from the dark corners of their warehouses.
Unfortunately, these fake products include health and safety
threatening products such as food, medicine and building materials.
While developed countries have put in place the necessary
regulations and effective enforcement mechanisms to prevent entry
of fake and substandard products into their markets, the reverse is
true for developing countries, where archaic laws and poor
enforcement mechanisms have turned them into a dumping ground.
So what is the magnitude of the problem in Uganda and what
should be done to curb the proliferation of these substandard
products on the market?
This paper focuses on substandard building materials on the
Ugandan market and how their prevalence on the market is a
challenge for engineers and other professionals, and is threatening
people's lives. The substandard building materials include steel
products, cement, electrical materials, fittings and many others.
Fake and substandard building materials manifest themselves in
many ways but the common factor is that they are unsafe and result
in construction of weak structures, at the same time driving the
economy decades back as money exchanges value for no value.
The fight against substandard building materials needs to be taken
seriously by all stakeholders and should be intensified. Government
has put in place institutions to deal with the problem but these
institutions need adequate resources and strong legislation to
facilitate the work. Curbing substandard building materials on the
market will need more public awareness, more commitment, more
resources and most importantly collective action.
SOME DEFINITIONS:
Certification
procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a
product, process or service conforms to the specified requirements.
Conformity Assessment
any activity concerned with determining directly or indirectly that
relevant requirements are fulfilled
Counterfeit
a copy, fake, forgery, fraud, imitation, inferior, impersonate, look-
alike, pretend i.e. illegal copies or impersonations of the
real/genuine
Inspection
conformity evaluation by observation and judgement accompanied
as appropriate by measurement, testing or gauging

Quality
degree to which inherent characteristics fulfils requirements.
Quality Assurance
part of quality management focussed on providing confidence that
quality requirements will be fulfilled
Standard
document established by consensus and approved by a recognized
body that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines
or characteristics for activities or their results aimed at the
achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. (A
standard could be a specification, code of practice or test method)
Substandard
not conforming to standards
Sub-standard Building Materials: A Challenge for Engineers in
Uganda
1.0 INTRODUCTION
When the Margalla Towers [1] in Islamabad, Pakistan collapsed on
8th October 2005 after an earthquake killing more than 40 people
and injuring many others, a Japanese expert, Dr Yoshiaai Nakano,
head of the Fundamental Engineering Institute of the University of
Tokyo, along with other experts, visited the Margalla Towers and
after investigations, declared that substandard materials were used
in the construction of the towers and were the major cause of the
collapse of the towers. The chairman of the Civil Engineering
Department of the University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila,
reported that the building materials used in the Margalla Towers
were 50 percent below standard. This is just one case that
demonstrates the danger of using substandard building materials
for construction. The Ugandan Market continues to be filled with
substandard products, among them, building materials.
Unfortunately, many Ugandans, including engineers, either out of
ignorance or to save money are willing to buy these substandard
building materials. Meanwhile, the standards [2] and regulations
enforcement and market monitoring mechanisms do not seem to be
adequate. The responsible institutions are either trying to intervene
with minimal facilitation, or helplessly looking on as matters get out
of hand.
Government has put in place bodies to deal with problems in the
construction sector as some examples below indicate:
• The Ministry of Works Housing and Communications (MoWHC)
in conjunction with Local Governments - for enforcement of building
standards and codes,
• The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) - for
development and enforcement of product standards including
building materials,
• The Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE) - for
enforcement of professional ethics in the engineering professionals
involved in construction. According to the recent report of the
Building Inspection Taskforce [3], poor workmanship, failure to
adhere to the building regulations, and use of unqualified personnel
27
are very rampant on construction sites including high-rise buildings.
However, the resources put at the disposal of the responsible
institutions to execute their duties is laughable to say the least. Few
ill-motivated inspectors with grossly inadequate resources are given
the responsibility of crisscrossing this vast country to ensure that
buildings are constructed to the right standards and that right
materials are placed on the market. The funding does not match the
amount of work. For example, UNBS, which until last year was
financed to the tune of US$ 0.8 million annually performs the same
functions as the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), which is
financed to the tune of US$ 7 million annually.
Meanwhile, the dubious business people who manufacture and deal
in substandard building materials are an organised syndicate and
are willing to invest a lot of money to illegally buy their way into the
market. Fighting these illegal activities equally requires a lot of
resources.
2.0 CURRENT PROBLEMS IN THE MARKET:
Substandard building materials in the market include products that
contribute to structural strength, electrical materials as well as
appliances, fixtures and fittings. Some of these products are
imported but others are locally manufactured. While some products
are substandard right from the factories, some products are of
quality [4] as they leave the manufacturers premises but are
tampered with in the market place. The Market Surveillance section
of Uganda National Bureau of Standards, which has been active in
fighting substandard products in the market, albeit with grossly
inadequate resources, identified some of the problems with building
materials in the market as shown hereafter:
2.1 Steel products:
These include reinforcement steel bars, ring wires, profiled
sections, galvanised steel pipes, iron sheets, expanded metal, nails,
and many others. The problems identified include:
• Under sizing: this includes smaller nominal sizes, (e.g., diameter
of 9.2 mm instead of 10 mm) and being shorter in length e.g., steel
bars of 37ft instead of the standard 40ft)
• Deliberate over-declaration of size: This has been detected in
ring wires, for example where R4 (ring wire of 4mm) is sometimes
declared and sold as R6 (6mm), and R6 declared and sold as R8).
• Wrong chemical composition (e.g., mild steel with carbon
content higher that 0.25 %).
The above problems mean that well designed structures can fail
because the contractors use undersized materials mistakenly, or fall
short of materials quoted in their bills of quantities.
2.2 Cement:
Most of the problems identified with the cement originate from the
market place whereby cement dealers tamper with good cement in
order to reap more profits. The problems include:
• Underweight - where unscrupulous dealers deliberately remove
some amount of cement from 50 kg bags and leave them with 35
to 45 kg of cement
• Adulteration - addition of non-cement materials after removal of
 28
some kilos, e.g., addition of sand, ash, clay, etc to restore
underweight bags to 50 kg
• Fake tile binders: Cases of counterfeit binders for floor tiles have
also been identified in the market where some of it is illegally
imported or used tins are filled with fake stuff and resold on the
market. In both cases, the counterfeit cannot bind the tiles to the
surfaces.
The above cement problems lead to wrong concrete mixes and in
cases of adulteration substances like clay and ash reduce the
setting capacity of the cement. All this leads to weak structures.
2.3 Others
(Tools, appliances, fixtures, fasteners and fittings): These include
door handles, locks, latches, hinges, bolts, screws, tools, measuring
tools, and many others. These items are often very weak, break
easily and have a very short lifespan. In most cases, they are often
made beautiful to hide the structural/design weaknesses. Most of
them are imported and originate from Asian countries and in
majority of the cases do not include the country of origin on their
labels and instead mention names of countries like "England", "UK",
"Japan", "Germany", etc but without the words "Made in --- ". Some
may include words like "Design in Germany" or "Components from
Japan", etc.
Unfortunately, our country in most cases lacks testing capacity to
detect these items before they enter the market and many users
learn of the problems the hard way.
2.4 Electrical Materials:
These include cables, conduits, fittings (sockets, switches, etc),
lighting materials (incandescent and fluorescent bulbs and tubes),
appliances (e.g., heaters) and many others. Fake electrical
materials are the main causes of short circuits leading to fires in
buildings. Some of the identified problems in the market include the
following:
2.4.1 Electrical Cables/wires:
Problems identified with substandard cables include the following
(see Table 1):
• Fake conductors - where the copper used for conductors in the
cables is impure and is abnormally darker in colour than the
ordinary pink colour of pure copper. This impure copper has
abnormally higher resistance thus heating up easily
• Undersize conductors - where the sizes of conductors are
smaller, e.g., 0.74 mm instead of the standard 0.85mm. This
increases resistance.
• Fewer number of strands - where the number of strands in the
conductors are fewer that standard, e.g., 33 strands instead of
50 strands. Again this increases the resistance of the cable and
heats up quickly.
• Substandard Insulation (undersize and poor materials) - where
the insulation thickness is less than the standard thickness
(manufacturers want to save materials) and the actual material
is adulterated, i.e., adulterated PVC.
2.4.2 Electrical Conduits:
Fake conduits litter the market. They are made of recycled High
Density Polyethylene (HDPE) materials (e.g., old jerricans and
basins) that easily catch fire instead of un-plasticised polyvinyl
chloride (uPVC) that doesn't catch fire. Ironically, building
technicians prefer the wrong HDPE material because it is more
flexible (bends more easily) forgetting that it propagates fire like
fuel. Therefore in cases of short-circuits, where PVC is
thermosetting and just gets deformed at the sparking point, HDPE
catches fire and propagates it.
2.4.3 Lighting bulbs and tubes:
Fake bulbs (incandescent lamps) are being wrapped in paper
packages of known brands. For example a package of Philips bulbs
when opened shows the actual bulb having a different brand name
and often with short service life. Problems of fake energy savers are
also being reported on the market.
3.0 EFFECTS OF SUBSTANDARD BUILDING MATERIALS
The effects of substandard building materials are diverse but
generally fall in the categories below;
3.1 Weak structures - where the required structural strength of a
structure is not attained leading to collapse of buildings, and other
structures. This often happens after heavy rains or tremors, like the
Margalla Towers. Substandard electrical materials also cause short
circuits resulting in fires that raze buildings. This directly endangers
the lives of people and their property.
3.2 Negative impact on the economy - this does not only refer to
loss of property when structures collapse or catch fire, but also to
the loss incurred by construction companies and individuals
involved in construction projects when their projects fail because the
bills of quantities quoted are undermined by short supply due to
underweight, or under-length of materials supplied. It also includes
fittings and tools that break easily and must be replaced very often
thus draining the scarce resources.
4.0 CAUSES OF PROLIFERATION OF SUBSTANDARD
BUILDING MATERIALS ON THE MARKET:
4.1 Low level of awareness:
One important cause of the increase in substandard building
materials on the market is the low levels of awareness amongst
professionals, government officials and politicians and the general
public. After liberalisation of trade in Uganda, in the early nineties,
very little was invested in creating awareness among stakeholders
about the potential abuses that could arise in the liberalised
business environment. Low levels of awareness has led to:
• Engineers and construction firms procuring substandard
materials either out of ignorance or to make quick money because
the substandard items are much cheaper
• Legislators not passing stringent laws to deal with the
unscrupulous manufacturers and dealers in the substandard
materials

NB: Among samples of imported cables, only Pirelli (No. 9) passed the lab tests. Locally
manufactured brands (No. 10 to 15) passed the lab tests. N/A means not applicable.
Table 1: Survey Of The Quality Of Electrical Cables On The Market -Feb 2004 [5]
• Dealers and manufacturers not
appreciating the terrible implications of
substandard building materials that they
deal in.
4.2 Inadequate Technical Capacity:
Another important cause is lack of testing
capacity within the country. Again after
liberalisation of the economy, not enough
safeguards were put in place by
government by way of adequately
regulating the liberalised economy. As a
result, there is general lack of testing
capacity in the country and lack of proper
technical monitoring in crucial areas.
Technical capacity in testing (conformity
assessment) for building materials is not
given its due attention despite its economic
and health and safety impact.
Whereas there is some limited Testing
capacity in the country for testing
engineering materials e.g., at UNBS,
Ministry of Works (Central Material testing
laboratory at Kireka), some few local
29
4.3 Inadequate enforcement capacity for
standards and regulations:
Another major cause of the influx of
substandard building materials is lack of
capacity to enforce regulations and
standards. While institutions like UNBS and
MoWHC are in place to enforce standards
and codes of practice for building materials,
they suffer from poor facilitation in terms of
transport, basic equipment for conformity
assessment and understaffing. The
institutions need capacity to cover the whole
country in terms of border inspections of
imports, market surveillance to monitor what
is being sold in the market, and inspection
of construction sites to ensure proper
materials are being used.
4.4 Weak Laws
Similarly, the regulatory framework is very
weak with archaic laws and low penalties for
wrongdoers. In 2003, a hardware dealer
who was found selling more than 30 tonnes
of underweight cement was fined only
30,000 Uganda shillings by the magistrates
court [4].
5.0 PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS
5.1 Awareness programmes:
These must be organised by institutions like
industries (e.g., plastic pipe manufacturers
UIPE in conjunction with MoWHC and
for pressure testing), and at some
UNBS and should target legislators and
institutions of learning, e.g., Makerere
policy makers, top government officials,
University & Kyambogo University, there is
construction firms, manufacturers, dealers
a general lack of essential testing
and all other major stakeholders in the
equipment like:
construction industry. These awareness
• Universal testing machines for steel and
programmes should underscore the
other products,
dangers associated with substandard
• Modern equipment for testing for
building materials and ensure that a united
chemical properties and
front is created to fight the menace.
composition of products,
• Electronics testing equipment,
5.2 Procurement:
• Tyre testing equipment, and many other
Construction firms must learn to purchase
areas. In addition to the limited testing
only quality assured [4] materials, i.e., buy
capacity, there is general lack of calibration
materials that are certified by competent
capacity for the available testing equipment.
bodies. Construction companies must learn
Laboratory test results are useful in as
to invite inspection bodies like UNBS to
much as you have confidence in their
inspect and certify ordered consignments
accuracy, that is where the machines are
before they are accepted for use to ensure
calibrated and the personnel are well
that they conform to purchase
trained. Uganda Lacks calibration capacity
specifications. They may also require
for high pressure testing equipment, tensile
suppliers to have inspection and test reports
testing equipment, time/frequency
to accompany the consignments of
measuring equipment, voltage/current
materials being supplied.
measuring equipment and many others.
 30
5.3 Testing and Calibration capacity:
Sub-sectors in the building industry should pool resources to buy
testing equipment. Quite often, the equipment is very expensive to
procure and hence requires joint efforts. Such equipment when
secured could for instance be installed at the Ministry of works or at
the UNBS laboratories for easy access for use.
The relevant players must however be well sensitised to first
appreciate the importance of the testing equipment. Government
must also come in and equip the responsible bodies with the
calibration capacity in terms of equipment and trained manpower.
Policies could also be formulated to encourage the private sector to
invest in this area and collaborate with UNBS in maintaining
traceability of the measurement systems.
5.4 Weak laws and enforcement of standards and regulations:
Government and the responsible institutions must come up with
plans and strategies to increase the enforcement capacity of
standards and building codes and the capacity to monitor both
imported and locally manufactured building materials. Government
must also address the weak laws that make offenders get away with
it.
6.0 CURRENT INTERVENTIONS:
UNBS, which is the main body responsible for standards, currently
operates a number of programmes to fight substandard products.
These include Market surveillance (codenamed Operation Q),
Imports inspection scheme, Factory inspection, Product
Certification services, Laboratory testing services and development
of relevant standards. However the capacity is still very small
compared to the market problems mentioned above.
Fortunately, Government has promised to increase the funding of
UNBS to enable it expand the above programmes. This, if effected,
is a very welcome step and will increase capacity both in terms of
national coverage and laboratory capacity.
The Ministry of Works Housing and Communications, prompted by
the recent problems in the construction sector and in liaison with
UIPE is strengthening the inspection and monitoring capacity for
construction sites. A Committee that was set up by the Minister has
already submitted a report to be used in this regard. However, the
process needs to be speeded up to ensure that any new building
projects are made to comply with all building regulations.
7.0 CONCLUSION
Substandard building materials are a real threat to people's lives
and their properties. Engineers who use the materials have the
biggest responsibility in fighting substandard materials. The role of
Government is to make effective laws and strengthen the
regulations and standards enforcement mechanisms. The fake and
counterfeit industry is a multibillion-dollar business and fighting it
requires more resources; more motivated and committed human
resource and most importantly collective action. This will deny the
fake imported products entry into our markets, while at the same
time strengthening market surveillance activities that will ensure
that even those fake products that slip onto the market are removed
and denied shelf space.
Creation of awareness amongst professionals, government officials
and the general public will play a vital role, since these people
constitute the buyers. If the buyers can shun these fake and
substandard products, then their market will collapse.
Only through corrective effort can substandard materials be
eliminated from the market.
7.0 References:
[1] Daily Times of Pakistan: "UET Taxila report on Margalla Towers:
Substandard materials responsible for collapse", Tuesday,
November 29, 2005
[2] ISO/IEC Guide 2: 1996(E/F/R): "Standardization and related
activities - General vocabulary". A publication of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1996, Seventh Edition.
[3] Report of the Building Inspection Taskforce, November 2005 -
Ministry of Works Housing and Communication.
[4] ISO 9000:2000: "Quality management system - Fundamentals
and vocabulary". A publication of the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO), December 2000.
[5] UNBS Market Surveillance Report: Survey of the Quality of
Electrical Cables Available on the Market, February 2004
Biography
Author: Deusdedit Mubangizi
Position: Principal Standards Officer,
Head of Quality Assurance Division
Organisation: Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS)
Country: Uganda
Deusdedit Mubangizi is a Principal Standards Officer and Head of
the Quality Assurance Division at Uganda National Bureau of
Standards.
After graduating from Makerere University in 1991 with a degree in
Mechanical Engineering he worked as a researcher on pozzolana
cement and later as a lecturer and an Engineer in NYTIL textile
factory. As a researcher, he was instrumental in the development
and introduction of Pozzolana based cements in Uganda.
In 1999 he joined UNBS where he worked as a Quality Assurance
Engineer before being appointed to head the market surveillance
programme codenamed "Operation Q". As head of Operation Q, he
was responsible for fighting fake and substandard products from the
market and prosecution of offenders. As Head of the Quality
Assurance Division, he is a senior manager and member of the
UNBS management team.
Mr. Mubangizi holds a Master of Science Degree in Sanitary
Engineering from IHE Delft in the Netherlands. He holds a number
of other professional certificates including a Certificate in Production
Engineering from The Polytechnic University, Kanagawa, Japan. He
is also a quality systems auditor of ISO 9001:2000 quality
management system.
 32

Challenges
of
Energy Supply for
Developing
Countries

Eng Dr Frank B Sebbowa

1. The Importance of Energy in Development

Man is probably the laziest creation walking the planet Earth.
However Man being a creature seeking the most conveniences of
life, has honed the ability to innovate. Thus while other creatures still
depend mostly on their muscles to survive and get whatever little
comfort they can, Man has harnessed both other animals and other
aspects of nature to ensure Man's own needs. The less a
community uses of their own muscles to generate their living needs
the more socio-economically advanced it is judged to be.

Unfortunately Man's lifestyle has a tendency to require an ever-

increasing amount of consumption and hence a need to produce
more of the various items that bring comfort. Man discovered long
ago that producing to meet this consumption required more than
Man's own muscles and as Man's requirements have escalated in
some communities even the added effort from animals could not
suffice. Man has had to use ingenuity and improvisation to harness
nature to meet these needs more efficiently and effectively.

Machinery exploiting naturally occurring resources has been

designed and deployed in the past one and half centuries to meet
Man's production needs and as more of the Man species have
come to exist on planet Earth pressures on production have called
for better and more machinery designs on realizing that the
resources these machines consume when producing for Man are
mainly irreplaceable.

It is now agreed that creation of wealth and hence economic

development is in the hands of those able to use machinery to the
best advantage. With improvement in global transportation
communities that produce the products that Man require get
wealthier than those that must buy for their own consumption.
 33

The level of sophistication of the production machinery a community

possesses is now a fair measure of how much comfort and wealth
that community has. Since these machines utilize energy in
production, the energy consumption levels of a community also
defines how socio-economically sophisticated (and advanced in
worldly matters) that community is. This however has in the recent
past been modified somewhat by communities that have advanced
from providing commodities or goods of comfort to those providing
services that Man needs to manipulate its environment. But the
communities providing the most services also live the most
luxurious life with even higher energy demands. The computer, the
new machinery enabling the provision of services is equally energy
hungry and on a more continuous basis than machinery producing
goods.

The computers like most of goods- producing machinery use mostly

energy after it has been converted into electricity from other
naturally occurring forms of energy. This is so because most other
forms of energy are either cumbersome or not so clean to use at the
point of production. Unfortunately there are no known means of
converting energy from one form to another with significant losses.

2. Normal Forms of Electricity Energy Supply

At the beginning of using electricity, and to some limited extent
today in the transportation industry, human muscle or animal
muscles were called in to turn the dynamo to charge batteries on
mopeds that subsequently ride on further uphill or indeed to provide
lighting on the traditional village bicycle. This is a cumbersome way
of generating electricity and the quantities achievable are too small
for most communal purposes.

However the world over the combustion of hydrocarbon-based

compounds (petroleum and gas) provides the larger source of
energy that is converted to electricity for industrial, commercial and
domestic consumption. This ranges from combustion of petrol or
diesel in an internal combustion engine coupled to an alternator that
provides small quantities of electric power for a house or shop to the
huge 1 to 10 MW plants such as those in use by Aggreko
International Projects at Lugogo substation in Kampala. On another
scale combustion of hydrocarbons or other natural materials (coal,
agricultural waste etc) can be used to drives gas or other turbines
to which alternators are coupled to produce electricity. Unfortunately
the naturally occurring feedstock for the combustion processes are
in limited regions of the world and are getting to be in short supply.

Of equal importance in the provision of electricity for world

communities is the conversion of potential energy held in water
falling through large heights onto turbines coupled to alternators
which, provided electricity through various hydro power schemes.
Another hydro-based technology is flow of huge amounts of water
through turbines without large height differences in the so-called
'run-of -the river' hydro schemes. For most developing countries
hydropower has dominated the electricity supply industry for a long
time mainly because of the lower operational costs of the
associated plants using the naturally occurring rivers in most of
these countries. Most of these countries have been happy with
arrangement because their energy requirements until recently have
been fairly low, an indication of low socio-economic development
levels.
 34
In the more energy intensive countries of the world the heat energy
released from nuclear reactions of various forms of uranium has
been exploited to generate very vast quantities of electric power
through driving specially designed turbines, which in turn electricity
generating alternators. There dangers associated with technology
as failures in such systems have led to disasters both in Russia and
the United States of America, the world's leading users of this
technology.
To some limited extent there are various forms of renewable energy
forms converted to electricity. Prominent among these are wind
farms in Scandinavian countries and solar farms in various parts of
the world. The former systems use wind turbines to drive the
alternators while the latter use concentrators that boil special
liquids, which in turn drive turbines.
3. Electric Energy Sources for Developed and Developing Countries
In the developed world the per capita consumption of electric
energy is high and the two main sources are combustion (fossil fuel
and coal) and nuclear. The often dirty and cumbersome conversion
to electricity takes place in remote and far away places but
transportation over long but fairly efficient transmission networks
delivers the energy to the consumption points. With efficient
transmission systems the conversion points can be more or less
anywhere. Given the good returns in the business in these
developed countries the conversion points or generation stations
are many and competition ensures that at any one moment in time
the most efficient generation plants supply the transmission network
for supply to consumers. Also the much cleaner and quieter electric
trains and cars have been in regular operation for decades.
However there is a large fleet of transportation vehicles, which are
directly dependent on hydrocarbon-based fuels.
The larger picture in developing countries, Uganda inclusive, is
often quite different. The majority of the members of the
communities in such countries are still dependent on muscle power
(walk on foot or at best ride a bicycle, use man or at best the oxen
for tilling the land to plant food and animals are still used for
rudimental grain milling machinery etc) and use biomass for heating
(for body warmth or cooking food) and lighting the miserable houses
called home.
However to some extent the booming motor vehicle supply industry
has contributes a large supply on vehicles (trains, buses, trucks,
cars and motorcycles) in most developing countries. Most of these
vehicles depend directly on hydrocarbon-based fuels for energy.
Indeed there are several stand-alone petrol or diesel generators
providing energy to small-scale industries. Industrial and
commercial use electricity is often based on hydro or combustion as
mentioned earlier. However domestic electricity use is still scarce in
the developing world, with access rates below 30% on average and
often below 10% like in Uganda. Where this electricity exists it only
reaches the minority who are urban dwellers leaving out the majority
who live in rural areas.
The developed world has a challenge to bring their energy levels to
equitable levels in view of the shrinking supplies in the so-called
shared global village. However the rest of the world also has a
challenge to carry out research and development in innovative
energy sources some of which are more abundant in their
neighborhoods relative to the developed world. Developed
countries have large research budgets and programs on energy yet
the more energy-needy developing countries only lament the
consumption levels of the developed world. The energy efficiency
studies are more focused in the developed capitals of the world
whereas the developing nations need energy efficiency most.
Solar energy could be more beneficial to many developing countries
stranding the equator. But equatorial countries look to the
developed countries far removed from the equator for this research
effort.
4. Uganda's Energy Supply Challenge
In general Uganda is starved of all forms of energy. The Ugandan
peasant still uses muscle power to till his shamba for food. But the
combination of youth migration to urban centers and the rampaging
AIDS related deaths of the more young Ugandans (who happen
also to be the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS) has reduced this
longtime national source of productive energy to much lower levels
than ever before in recorded history.
The countryside is denuded of forests, which hitherto have been the
main supply of the biomass-type source energy, which contributes
well over 95% of energy used in the country. Yet both urban and
rural dwellers depend heavily on either fuel wood or its derivative
charcoal for cooking. Government and private effort to replant the
Ugandan forests, though commendable, is still short of the
consumption rate.
Uganda with an estimated 4000MW of hydropower potential along
the White Nile has installed capacity to tap at most 300MW from the
two hydro generation complexes at Jinja. Of this installed capacity
a three regional drought has ensured that only 80MW to 130 MW
can be safely utilized for Uganda's energy present needs.
It is estimated and forecast that Uganda has useable hydrocarbon
deposits around Lake Albert. Exploration effort to-date has not
yielded commercially exploitable finds. Yet were the numerous test
drill wells to yield fruit thermal plants like the Aggreko units at
Lugogo would be cheap to run on homegrown diesel or whatever
fuel.
4.1 The Present Supply Shortage
Uganda has traditionally depended on hydro generation from Jinja.
Initially the generation complex, Nalubaale, had an installed
capacity of 150MW, in ten generation units, which was enhanced to
180MW during the major plant overhaul between 1997 and 1998.
This was supposed to be gradually decommissioned and replaced
from 2004 with the five units 200MW in Kiira power station built
almost adjacent to the old Nalubaale. However as Kiira units
became available and due to the increased demand none of the
Nalubaale units was decommissioned instead a perception
developed that the Kiira units were just additional to the Nalubaale
units. Hence the misconception that the two power stations had a
combined operational capacity of 380MW whereas the design
capacity at best could only be 280MW, and that with very good
water injection (good rain) and levels in the lake.
Unfortunately over the past three years the catchment area for the
lake has received very poor rains. Some school of thought believes

that global warming has also increased the rate of water
evaporation from the surface of the lake. The overdrawing of water
for electricity generation, the reduced inflow of water into the lake
and the increased evaporation all compounded the water level of
the lake to a point where the government acted on the only aspect
it had control over. On February 6th, 2006 water extraction for
electricity generation was curtailed by government order to 850
cubic meters per second. This corresponded to a voluntary
reduction of 40MW in generation, reducing available generation
capacity for the prevailing lake conditions at Jinja to 135MW.
Earlier in 2004 government had identified a growing need of
electricity supply (estimated to grow at a rate of 25MW or 8% per
annum) that could not be met with the traditional means. Thus an
Independent Power Producer, Aggreko International Projects of
Dubai had been allowed to enter the supply sector in May 2005 with
50MW of thermal generated electricity. This diesel-based supply
while expensive has continued to play a vital role in sustaining the
country's energy supply and guaranteeing continuity with normalcy
of sorts in the Uganda socio-economic system. The load shedding
has inevitably disrupted many socio-economic activities of the
country. Although self-generation through standby generators has
increased it is so expensive and overall has only limited effect on
the national picture.
When the 135MW of hydro from Jinja and 50MW of thermal from
Aggreko are deployed the measured average power supply
shortage in the country at peak time (6pm to 12 midnight) presently
(May 2006) stands at 190MW and during the day it stands at 90MW
on average. This is the challenge that the Uganda Electricity Supply
Industry is grappling with.
4.2 Mitigating the Uganda Power Supply Challenges
a) Short-term additional Power Supply
The government working with development partners is trying to
bring fast-deployment Build Operate Own thermal generation at
least to address the crippling load shedding in the immediate term.
The International Development Agency (IDA) will support this with a
substantially amount of long-term soft loan. The government of
Uganda is making a budget provision of 70 billion shillings to
mitigate the cost of this thermal.
Efforts are afoot to get 50MW of additional thermal by January 2007
with Norwegian support towards mitigating the costs involved.
Those who can afford and are in need of at least 100kVA generator
sets are already receiving duty exemption on diesel for those
generators as well as other incentives.
The government is working on gaining some energy through
reduced domestic consumption through deployment of compact
florescent light (CFL) bulbs, commonly referred to as energy savers.
By ensuring that most of the incandescent bulbs are replaced with
low wattage CFL bulbs the pressure on the system can be reduced
and the peak time demand is lower leading to less load shedding
and hence less public disgust.
b) Medium-term additional Power supply
The 16MW electricity production from sugar cane waste (bagasse)
by Kakira Sugar Works (1985) Limited is expected to start by middle
of 2007. Plant installation started late last year.
35
There are efforts to get some mini-hydro power generation schemes
online within the next two to three years. In particular feasibility
studies by SN Power at Waki and Bugoye for 15MW are almost
complete and it is expected that generation from these two sites will
commence early 2008. Although it is early days, the Buseruka
gorge hydro plant is expected to yield another 10MW by early 2009.
There are serious developers working on Waste - to - Energy
proposals that convert urban waste to electricity through controlled
burning of garbage. The estimate for Kampala alone is in excess of
50MW.
The major impact on the electricity supply situation in the country is
expected to come with firstly the Bujagali 250MW project
spearheaded by the IPS group. This project is at finance
negotiations among the consortium members and financial close is
expected in October 2006 and possibly earlier. The Engineering
Procurement and Construction (ECP) contract negotiations are
going well and construction may start almost as soon as financial
close is reached. The dam and power station construction period is
agreed at 44 months at worst. This puts Bujagali power supply to
consumers at late 2009 early 2010.
The next major impact should be with the coming on board of
Karuma power. Government has called the proposed developers of
this site for negotiations on the Power Purchase Agreement. The
intention is fast-tracking this project to attain power generation from
the site around 2011/2012.
Away from the main power grid, the West Nile Rural Electrification
Company, commonly called WENRECo has reached financial close
for the Nyagak 3.5MW hydro plant. The ECP contractor is already
on board and construction of this 24-months project could start in
the last quarter of 2006. Thus improving power supply in the West
Nile region.
c) Long-term Additional Electricity Supply
As stated earlier along the Ugandan section of the White Nile alone
4000MW exist and preliminary studies have been carried out
showing that Ayego North and Ayego South can be developed at
economic cost to supply close to 500MW between them.
Presently some Malaysian developers are keenly interested in
developing the 450MW Kalagala site provided their proposal
overcomes the environmental impact concerns of several
stakeholders. The government is carrying serious exploratory
studies of the geothermal potential in the Semuliki area. The out
come could well lead into developing some extra 100MW from this
resource.
Under the East African Master Power Plan interconnection of the
three regional power grids is a priority that could see Uganda in s
support system carrying well over 2500MW.
CONCLUSION
Electricity plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of
any country. There are many sources of electricity, some expensive
others cheap and yet others dangerous. For Uganda the present
electricity shortage is playing havoc with the economy but efforts
short-term and long-term are in place to address the problem.
 36

Comparative analysis
of the strength of hand and
machine crushed coarse
aggregates in uganda
Dr. Michael Kyakula & Mr. Samuel Kagwisagye; Civil & Building suitability of these aggregates for use in construction. Presently
Engineering Department, Kyambogo University there is no evidence that their suitability has ever been scientifically
investigated and the construction industry's views may be based on
ABSTRACT perceived opinions. Secondly, if the aggregates are found suitable
Aggregates cover up to 80% of the volume of concrete. Thus their there is need to come up with a cheap and less demanding method
properties have great influence over the nature and strength of of crushing these stones. This paper is a step in addressing the gap
concrete produced. Currently there are two types of coarse in the former endeavor.
aggregates being used for concrete in Uganda. A big percentage is
hand crushed and the rest in machine crushed. Even some Aggregates occupy about 80% of the volume of concrete and are
prestigious projects in Kampala have been observed to use hand responsible for rigidity and dimensional stability of concrete.
crushed aggregates. This study investigated and compared the (Shetty,2001) They also play a big role in determination of the
strength of hand and machine crushed aggregates. Samples of strength of concrete (Neville, 1993). Given that the failure of
coarse aggregates were taken from five quarries around Kampala; building structures is on the increase and all the recent failures
two of these were for machine crushed while three were for hand recorded are for reinforced concrete structures, there is need to
crushed. The aggregates were graded, then tested foe Aggregate investigate the influence of different types of aggregates on the
Crushing Value (ACV), Aggregate Impact Value (AIV), Los Angles strength of concrete. Also there is need for project managers to
Abrasion Value (LAAV), water absorption and Flakiness Index (FI). have a scientific basis for refusing or approving use of aggregates
Then concrete cubes were made from the aggregates from each of on various sites.
the five sites, these were tested for compressive strength. It was
found that both machine and hand crushed aggregates satisfied the In this study coarse aggregates from five sites; Bweya, Muyenga,
mechanical strength requirements for ACV, AIV, LAAV, and FI. The Kigo, Kireka and Nabusugwe were investigated. Aggregates from
compressive strength of hand crushed aggregates was found to be Bweya and Muyenga were machine crushed, while those from Kigo,
slightly lower. Kireka and Nabusugwe were hand crushed. While the sand used in
all cases was from Bwerenga - Entebbe.
INTRODUCTION
About 99% of multi storey buildings currently under construction in The parent rock at Bweya and Muyenga quarries are of granite
Uganda are made of concrete, Mukama (2005). Use of hand- type, confirmed by the geological department (Entebbe). Hand
crushed aggregates is on the increase. It has been noted that even crushed aggregates parent rocks were observed to bear fissures
large prestigious projects in Kampala now use hand-crushed where they can be broken /split, yet they are quite hard. Whereas
aggregates. A large percentage of the local population in villages no confirmation was available from the geological department, they
neighboring Kampala earn their living from producing hand crushed are probably metamorphic rocks that resulted from transformation
aggregates. There are two ways in which Engineers can help these of sedimentary rocks. The research findings reported below were
people in their struggle to alleviate poverty: First is to determine the obtained from field investigations and laboratory tests.

Aggregate Crushing Value: (ACV)
This gives a relative measure of the resistance of aggregates to
crushing under a gradually applied compressive load. It is the
percentage by weight of the crushed (or finer) material obtained
when the test aggregate are subjected to a specified load under
standardized conditions. The aggregate with lower crushing value
indicate a lower crushed fraction under load and thus higher
strength. The results are given in Table 1
Los Angels Abrasion Value (LAAV)
This measures the resistance to abrasion. The abrasive action is
produced by use of steel balls; which are mixed with aggregates
and rotated in a drum a specified number of revolutions (BS. 812).
The lower the value the stronger the aggregates. The results are
given in Table 1. Due to the expense involved from the ACV and
LAAV tests, aggregates from only two sites were considered.
Nabusugwe have the least values and therefore are stronger than
Bweya aggregates. However they both fall below permissible limits
and are thus suitable for concrete works.
Table 1: Aggregate Crushing Value & Los Angels Abrasion Value
Test Results
Aggregate Impact Value (AIV)
This is carried out on aggregates passing 14mm sieve and retained
on 10mm sieve, subjected to 15 blows of 14Kg hammer falling
through a height of 380mm. After completion of the blows, the
material passing 2.36mm sieve is expressed as a percentage of the
sample and recorded as Aggregate Impact Value, (AIV). The results
of the test are given in Table 2. The smaller the percentage, the
higher the strength. Thus machine-crushed aggregates were found
to be stronger for the AIV test. However all are within the range of
specified strength requirements for concrete works.
Table 2: Aggregate Impact Value (AIV) Test Results
Water Absorption
Samples of aggregates of about 2000g from each of five sites were
selected and soaked in water for 24 hours. Their surfaces were
individually dried with a piece of cloth and the weight of each dry but
water saturated sample was found. Then they were heated in the
oven for 24 hours. They were removed weighed and again heated
in the oven; their weight was investigated every 3 hours until it
remained constant. This was taken as the dry weight of the
37
sample. The water absorption was calculated as:
The results of measurement of water absorption on the aggregate
samples from the fives sites are given in Table 3.
Table 3: Water Absorption (WA) Test Results
Hand crushed aggregates were found to absorb much more water
compared to machine crushed aggregates.
Flakiness Index
Using gauges, which separate the flaky aggregates and expressing
their mass as a percentage of the mass of the sample gives the
flakiness index. Flaky aggregates produce a weaker concrete than
angular particles. The results of the flakiness index test are given in
Table 4
Table 4: Flakiness Index (FI) Test Results
A smaller percentage implies that fewer aggregates are passing
through the slots, thus the sample is less flaky. Hand crushed
aggregates from Nabusugwe were found to be least flaky, however
they all fall within the range specified for concrete works.
Grading
Sieve analysis of machine crushed aggregates from Bweya and
Muyenga (size 20mm) revealed that they varied uniformly from
10mm to 37.5mm with about 50% below 20mm. For hand crushed
aggregates from Kigo, Kireka and Nabusugwe, about 15% of the
sample was between 2-10mm, and 85% between 10 to 50mm, with
about 45% below 20mm. Both samples are good for concrete
though the machine crushed aggregates of 20mm size need to be
mixed with about 15% of smaller size aggregates of 5-10mm.
A visual observation of the aggregates revealed that both hand
crushed and machine crushed aggregates were free from organic
matter, thus this test was deemed unnecessary.
Compressive Strength of Concrete
A total of 90 concrete cubes were made; 18 cubes were made using
aggregates from each of the five sites. The water cement ratio (W/C
 38
ratio) used were 0.55 for 9 of the cubes and 0.6 for the other nine.
The aim was to determine the effect of increasing the water content
on the different types of aggregates. A mix of 1:2:4 by weight
expected to achieve a characteristic compressive strength of was
used. The cement was Ordinary Portland cement, the water source
was NW&SC main supply and the fine sand was from Bwerenga,
Entebbe. The results of the compressive strength test for W/C ratios
of 0.55 and 0.6 are given in Tables 5 and 6 respectively.
Table 5: Compressive Strength of concrete for W/C ratio = 0.55
Table 6: Compressive Strength of concrete for W/C ratio = 0.60
For a characteristic compressive strength of , standard deviation of
the margin is found to be . Therefore the target mean strength is.
The target mean strength for concrete made from the different
aggregates and for water to cement ratios of 0.55 and 0.6 are given
in Tables 6 and 7 respectively.
Looking at Tables 5 , it is seen that for a water cement ratio of 0.55,
concrete made from machine and hand crushed aggregates
satisfied the required target mean strength. (Characteristic
compressive strength of ).
However, the strength of hand-crushed aggregates is found to be
lower. On increasing the water /cement ratio to 0.6, the strength of
hand crushed aggregates reduced more than that of machine
crushed aggregates, that of Kireka and Nabusugwe dropped below
the target mean strength.
This could be due to the fact that hand crushed aggregates tend to
keep more moisture than the machine crushed aggregates as
illustrated in Table 3. Therefore when a concrete is made, they need
less water than the machine crushed aggregates to reach a
saturated state, thus if the same quantity of water is used, their
strength will be lower.
CONCLUSION
It has been shown that the machine and hand crushed aggregates
considered satisfy strength properties of Aggregate Crushing Value,
(ACV), Los Angels Abrasion Value, (LAAV), Aggregate Impact
Value, (AIV). They also satisfy requirements for the Flakiness Index
(FI). However for the 20mm aggregate considered, it was found that
machine crushed aggregates were in the range 10-37.5mm thus
there is need to mix it with at least 15-20% smaller aggregates in
the range 5-10mm size.
Hand crushed aggregates were found to absorb and retain more
water, this could account for their compressive strength being lower
than those of machine crushed aggregates and even lowering more
when extra water is added.
This could imply that hand crushed aggregates used during the
rainy season and have not been kept in a sheltered shade for a long
time on site need less water compared to machine crushed
aggregates.
REFERENCES
1. Building Research Establishment, Garston, Watford, WD2 75R
(1982) "Design of Normal Concrete Mixes"
2. Bloem D. L. and Gaynor R. D. (1963), " Effect of Aggregate
Properties on Strength of Concrete" Journal of American
Concrete Institute Vol 60, No 10
3. Collins l. Fox R. A. (1985) " AGGREGATES, sand gravel and
cruished rock aggregates for construction purposes" The
geological society UK
4. Gadi K. O. Turyomurugyendo, (1977) "Evaluation of Muyenga
Project Stone Quarry" Geological Survey and Mines department
Report No. GKCT/1/1977
5. Handoo B. L. and Maha jan V. M. (1992), "Civil engineeering
Materials" Satya Prakashan, New Delhi
6. Kagwisagye Sam (2005) "Investigation in the effect of Aggregate
type and Water content on the strength of Concrete" Final year
Project, Department of Civil & Building Engineeering, Kyambogo
University
7. Mubiru Stephen, (1988); "Evaluation of Bweya Project Stione
Quarry" Geological Survey and Mines Department Report No.
8m/5/1988
8. Neville A. . (1993) " Properties of Concrete" Longman Group, Uk
Limited
9. Shetty, M. S. (2001), "Concrete Technology, Theory and
Practice", Ram Najar, New Delhi.
 40

Brigade, MoWHC, Red Cross and private contractors. Due to

Bwebajja building Government concern coupled with public outcry, Government set up
a nine-person technical committee to establish the cause of the
accident and make recommendations. See ref. [1] for the full report.
accident: lessons learnt Fig. 1 shows a section of the collapsed building while rescue efforts
were still taking place.

J. A. Mwakali* 2.0 THE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE

The following committee, consisting of people with varied
ABSTRACT professions, was instituted to investigate the accident and make
The collapse in 2004 of one of the buildings at the proposed hotel recommendations.
complex at Bwebajja on Entebbe Road in which several people
were killed and others injured was one of the worst construction- Name Affiliation
related accidents in recent times in Uganda. Eng. Dr. Jackson
Mwakali (Chairman) Associate Professor and Specialist in
A committee of inquiry constituted by Government unearthed some Structural Engineering Head, Department of
disturbing facts, including non-observance of professional ethics Civil Engineering, Makerere University
and use of informal arrangements for the construction of a large, Arch. Joel Kateregga
high-value and complex project. (Vice Chairman) President, Uganda Society of Architects
Vice Chairman, Architects Registration Board
A number of recommendations affecting that particular building and Ketrah K. Katunguka
project, and also covering regulation of the construction industry in (Member) Principal State Attorney, Ministry of Justice and
general were made. Construction at the site was subsequently Constitutional Affairs
suspended pending further investigations and institution of proper Eng Ssebbugga-Kimeze
mechanisms to ensure safe and sound construction not only on the (Member/Secretary) Chief Materials Engineer, Ministry of Works,
Bwebajja building site but throughout the country. Housing and Communications Member,
Engineers Registration Board
Keywords: Accident; Building; Bwebajja; Civil; Collapse; Arch Assumputa Naggenda
Construction; Formal construction; Hazard; Health; Informal Musana (Member) Lecturer, Department of Architecture Makerere
construction; Infrastructure; Injury; Labour, Legislation. University Member, Architects Registration
Board
1.0 INTRODUCTION Mr. Emmanuel Male
On 1st September 2004 between 0900 and 1030hrs at Bwebajja (Member) Chief Quantity Surveyor, Ministry of Works,
village, Ssisa Sub-county, Busiro County in Wakiso District at the Housing and Communications
site of J&M Airport Road Hotel Apartments & Leisure Centre project, Mr. Assuman Mugenyi
a building under construction, which had reached third level, (Member) Assistant Commissioner of Police Spokesman,
suddenly collapsed, resulting into the death of eleven workers. Uganda Police Force
Twenty-six others were injured and admitted in various hospitals. Mr. Mesilamu Oloka
The matter was reported to Police, Wakiso District Local (Member) General Secretary, Building Workers Union
Government and Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications Member, Central Governing Council, National
(MoWHC). Soon after, rescue work commenced involving Fire Organisation of Trade Unions
Dr. L.A. Abongomera
(Member) Commissioner, Occupational Health and
Safety Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social
Development

3.0 METHODOLOGY
The following methodology was adopted by the committee to guide
its investigations.
• Established rules of procedure
• Carried out on-spot inquiries.
• Made a close visual inspection of the collapsed and standing
structures.
• Established the typology of buildings and configurations on the
Fig. 1. Section of the collapsed building as rescue operations were site, the type of structure that collapsed, mode of failure of the
going on.
 41

• Spacious gardens
• Conference halls with 4500 seats
• 2 outdoor swimming pools and 9-hole golf course
• Landscape with water falls, fountains
• Helipad
• Animal Park.

Fig. 3. Artistic Master Plan of the project

Fig. 2 is a picture of the committee members talking to rescue

workers at the building site in the immediate aftermath of the
accident.
structure, any visible signs of distress of the structure, and
quality of construction.
• Identified specific areas of investigation.
• Identified sources of information, namely, representatives of
statutory and regulatory bodies responsible for building
construction, documents/literature, construction materials
samples and laboratory tests, site observations and
photographs.
• Collected data using questionnaires and interviews.
• Studied post mortem reports and Police Form 3 (PF3).
• Interviewed the employees responsible for the design,
construction and supervision of the buildings, the casual
workers, the survivors, the Proprietors of the project, those
involved in the search and rescue, and members of the public.
• Studied all available drawings, design calculations and other
technical documents pertaining to the project.
• Obtained information from practicing professionals in the
construction industry.
• Identified sampling points for concrete core extraction, rebound
hammer testing, and trial pit excavation.
• Established compliance with professional registration
requirements.
• Formulated data recording and analysis tools. 4.2 The project progress
• Analysed all the gathered data and information. At the time of the accident, construction work was at an advanced
• Determined the cause of failure of the collapsed building. stage, some of the buildings had already been roofed and others
• Studied relevant laws. were nearing that stage. The ground had been levelled and
• Made recommendations on the Bwebajja project and the terraced. Landscaping was in progress. Processing of orders for
building construction industry as a whole. sanitary and electrical fittings, doors, windows, ironmongery,
equipment and furniture was in progress.
4.0 KEY FINDINGS
4.1 The project concept 4.3 The collapsed building
The concept was an extensive 5-star hotel and leisure complex on The building that collapsed was part of the hotel and leisure
50 acres of land (see Fig. 3). It had magnificent architectural and complex. The building had a central core with an atrium (void) that
investment ideas, with the following facilities: let in natural lighting from above. The building was supposed to
• Fitness centre with sauna, jacuzzi, steam bath, massage, beauty have five storeys when completed. It had four wings, the biggest of
salon, boutique, restaurants, and night clubs which collapsed. The four wings had rooms with balconies of semi-
• 400 state-of-the-art hotel rooms and suites circular shapes. The wing that collapsed was located on the south
• World class shopping facility eastern side (Fig. 4). It was at a lower level with a steep slope to
• 7-storeyed block for 30 apartments (6 single, 24 double) the eastern side of the site.
• 30 luxury Rondavel cottages
 42
Fig. 4. A computer-generated 3-D impression of the building portion
that collapsed
4.4 Architectural and planning issues
• There were no approved architectural and structural drawings for
the collapsed building. The drawings that were being used
during construction showed a very complex building.
• There were no project scheme design options.
• There was no site plan that specified what was being covered in
the whole project apart from an artistic impression of various
buildings and their location on the site.
• The architectural plans did not meet acceptable standards of
design and detail.
• Very close to the building, a road had been cut into the ground.
• There were no construction drawings, specifications, bills of
quantities, window and door schedules, among other details.
• No professional architect or engineer was responsible for the
design and supervision of the building. The so-called engineers
on site were technicians and artisans. There was no qualified
building contractor for the project.
• The estimated total project cost was US$ 30 million. The
architect was offered Shs 15 million for the design of the first four
buildings (apartment block, health club, shopping complex, and
the cottages). There was no written contract.
4.5 Mode of structural failure
• The structure collapsed suddenly and without warning, allowing
no time for the workers to escape or notice the source of failure.
This is indicative of brittle failure. The failure occurred when the
workers were removing the props and shuttering that supported
the first floor slab to leave room for erection of infill walls. This
implies at the time of failure there was insufficient support for the
suspended floors. The suddenness of collapse supports the
hypothesis that the columns were far too weak to support the
medium-rise structure.
• There was no sign of vertical settlement, tilting or horizontal
movement in the sampled column bases, hence ruling out
foundation failure as the source of building collapse.
• At the time of collapse there was negligible live (imposed) load
on the structure. Neither seismic (earthquake) activity nor strong
winds were reported in the area on that day. The building
therefore collapsed under its own weight.
4.6 Structural design and materials
• The collapsed structure was a framed multi-storey in-situ RC
building.
• The structural framing (columns, beams and slabs) had been
constructed up to three suspended floors and shuttering was
being fixed to receive the 4th suspended floor slab.
• The columns were under-designed (both in terms of size and
reinforcement)
• The slabs and beams were adequately designed.
• The column bases were adequately sized.
• The masons interpreted a mix ratio of, for example, 1:2:4 to
mean "one bag of cement to two wheelbarrows of sand to four
wheelbarrows of stone aggregate".
• The quality of the basic materials (cement, steel & aggregates)
was good and conforming to best practices. However, the
concrete produced was poor (7 to16MPa) because of low
cement content and poor compaction (Fig. 5).
• There were no quality control activities on site. Basic and
fundamental tests like cube compressive strength and slump
were never performed on concrete.
4.7 Construction procedures
The structural framing was constructed up to the 3rd floor before the
shuttering was struck out. This meant that the concrete was allowed
sufficient time to attain its 28-day strength.
The structure would have manifested its deficiencies much earlier
had the shuttering and props been removed just after 28 days. By
then, the weight being borne by the columns would not have been
as much, and the failures would be less sudden, hence allowing
workers to escape. In addition, there would have been an
opportunity to re-evaluate the integrity of the structure before it
failed.
4.8 Legal matters
• The collapsed building was unlawfully constructed without
approved plans contrary to section 71 of the Public Health Act.
• There were insurance policies for 115 employees.
• Employment of a minor (<18 years) contravened section 50 of
the Employment Act.
• The site supervisor was negligent contrary to the Penal Code
Act.
Fig. 5. Very poor concrete in column (segregation of aggregates
and honeycombing)

4.9 Occupational safety and health (OSH), and labour issues
• The following positive points were noted: many employees,
dangerous spots guarded, first aid facility, standby vehicle to
transport workers in case of accidents, cheap meals, drinking
and washing water and other sanitary conveniences, women
employed in non-manual work, good wages.
• Some survivors did not receive sufficient treatment or lacked
funds to see qualified medical personnel.
• Most of the survivors and relatives of the dead were neither
aware of the procedure, nor had means of processing claims, for
compensation.
• Most workers had no safety gear; few brought theirs.
• No health and safety committee at the site.
• Most workers had no formal appointment, although records were
kept for purposes of payment.
• Casual workers had no employment cards.
• No pre-employment examination of workers.
• Long working hours (0800 to 1845 Monday to Saturday).
4.10 Policy issues
• The Wakiso District Engineer's office had no capacity to process
and approve building plans, inspect and monitor the building
construction activities, or enforce building rules and regulations.
It is the same in other local authorities.
• There is an acute lack of capacity for search and rescue
operations in emergency cases in the country.
• Current law does not effectively regulate building construction.
• Factories Act covers building construction for Government, but is
silent on private sector construction works.
• The Engineers and Architects Registration Acts do not cover the
disciplining of unregistered practitioners.
• The public is not aware of the importance of using qualified
persons, and the requirements for the development of buildings
for public use.
• The Public Health Act is not comprehensive enough to address
the OSH issues.
• Most workers don't know their rights and role of trade unions.
• There is no mechanism for registration of workers on
construction sites by Local Councils.
5.0 CONCLUSIONS
• Standard project design process was not followed, thereby
denying the project the critical technical review and analysis. In
particular, the absence of a structural engineer resulted in
underdesigned columns, thus the collapse.
• Lack of appropriate construction supervision meant that there
was no proper interpretation of drawings and specifications
concerning, in particular, the mix ratios, resulting into weak
concrete, thus the collapse.
• Non-use of experienced contractors resulting in poor
construction practices, such as inadequate concrete compaction
and curing, led to poor joints and unstable structure.
• Unnecessary delay in removing the shuttering and props created
temporary support to an already weak and overloaded structure,
leading to sudden failure as soon as they were removed.
43
• The local authority did not review and approve the designs, or
inspect and monitor the construction, hence missed the
opportunity to detect the deficiencies that led to the collapse.
• The informal project management set-up, including recruitment
and labour contracting, meant that even professionals would not
have participated in key decision-making.
• Use of direct labour made the proprietors responsible for the
quality of work.
• The basic construction materials (cement, aggregate, steel, etc.)
used were of good quality, and so did not, on their own, cause
the collapse.
• Poor enforcement of labour and other laws meant that
occupational safety and health issues, the law against
employment of minors and other employment requirements were
minimally observed.
• Laws impacting on the construction industry, specifically the
Factories Act, do not adequately address private sector issues.
• The laws governing the practice of architecture and engineering
are such that non-registered professionals in those fields cannot
be disciplined by the statutory bodies.
• Acute lack of manpower and logistics in Wakiso District means
that they cannot effectively monitor the rapidly growing
construction activities in the district.
• Uganda has acute lack of capacity for search and rescue
operations in emergency cases, hence there are likely to be high
fatality rates in case of disasters.
6.0 THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT
Much as many other things had gone wrong in the design and
construction process of the collapsed building, especially the
absence of approved plans, the root cause of the collapse of the
building was weak reinforced concrete columns that were
undersized, had insufficient steel reinforcement and were made of
poor concrete due to wrong mix proportions and poor construction
practices.
The building was being supported jointly by the weak columns and
the wooden props nearly equally. That is why the props were too
hard to remove, thus the sudden collapse of the building once they
were all struck out.
7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 For the proprietors
• Immediate suspension of construction of the affected building
• Engagement of qualified and experienced professionals to
assess and see how best to salvage the affected building.
• The rest of the buildings in the complex to be subjected to
thorough assessments to restore public confidence in their
safety.
• Compensation in respect of the dead and the injured, including
provision of medical care.
• The Proprietors to be cautioned against using informal methods
to implement such a big project intended for public use targeting
many people from all walks of life, including VIPs.
• Engagement of qualified experienced professionals to take full
 44
charge of the whole project.
• There should be strict compliance with the Workers'
Compensation Act and the Employment Act.
• The Proprietors, having assumed the role of Contractor, should
further be investigated for purposes of prosecution.
• Investigation of site supervisor for purposes of prosecution.
• The Proprietors should be reprimanded for failure to ensure that
plans were approved before starting construction.
7.2 For Local Authorities
• The District Engineer's office in Wakiso should be facilitated in
terms of both logistics and staffing if it is to cope with the fast
growing construction activities.
• Wakiso, other districts and urban authorities, having limited
capacity to process and approve building plans, inspect and
monitor constructions, should consider contracting out some of
the above tasks.
• The requirement for issuance of occupation permits for both new
and existing buildings for public use should be strictly enforced.
7.3 General
• The architect who took on such a complex project without any
formal agreement, should be admonished by the Uganda
Society of Architects for flouting the engagement procedure.
• The proposed Building Control Bill should be quickly passed to
curtail informal construction, which has led to deaths and injuries
of workers.
• The Factories Act should be amended to include construction
and engineering works initiated by and for the private sector.
• The Engineers and Architects Registration Acts should be
amended to provide for disciplinary action against trained
engineers and architects, who practise but are not registered.
• Need to sensitise the public on importance of using qualified
persons & the requirements for development of buildings for
public use.
• The proposed OSH Bill should be considered urgently to
compliment the Public Health Act.
• Need to sensitise workers, especially casual labourers, about
their rights and the role of Trade Unions.
• There should be a policy for registration of workers on
construction sites by the area Local Councils.
• Build capacity to respond to national emergencies.
8.0 LESSONS LEARNT
1. Need to put in place quality management systems (such as ISO
9000 series) in project design and implementation.
2. Need to observe proper procurement procedures, even in
private developments, to ensure right contractors are hired -
cheap is not always cheap!
3. It is high time that engineers and architects claimed their rightful
role in society, even if it means exerting civil pressure on powers
that be. Only they have the technical capacity to superintend
over building construction. They should learn from the lawyers
who discipline with ruthlessness pretenders within their ranks.
4. Engineers and architects should not do work without a written
contract.
5. Engineers and architects should charge what they are worth, not
what the client can afford - cheap is not always cheap!
6. The proposed revision of Engineers Registration Act should be
expedited.
7. Engineers and architects should be wary of endorsing drawings
of somebody else's designs.
8. A lesson from Turkey [2]: Building construction supervision by an
"expert", namely the design engineer, in addition to the
contractor, site engineer and building supervision firm. Even fees
for design and construction supervision are prescribed by law as
ranging from 4 to 8% of the estimated cost of the building. No
occupation permit is granted by the urban authorities unless it is
confirmed that construction has conformed to actual design. The
construction supervision firm is responsible for offsetting any
losses, including those from natural disasters, that may arise in
the first ten years after occupation. For this reason firms must
purchase insurance for each job they supervise. In addition,
construction supervision firms are classified into three groups in
order of reduced responsibility and manpower requirements.
These firms must be owned by a majority of engineers or
architects.
9. A lesson from Taiwan [3]: Only structural engineers may design
building structures without a height limitation. General civil
engineers are limited to 36m height. The design of any building
with a roof height more than 50m must undergo a rigorous peer
review process (normally lasting 5 to 8 weeks) where a
committee of at least 5 experts (3 majoring in theory of
structures, 1 in foundation engineering, and 1 in construction
methods) critique and approve the designs.
10. An engineer must aim to learn how a structure might behave
and not be satisfied with a quick but poorly understood solution.
Confidence develops over time [4]. Skempton [5] once said,
"Optimism and overconfidence may impress one's clients, but
they have no influence on the great forces of nature."
REFERENCES
[1] Bwebajja Building Accident Investigation Committee (2004).
Bwebajja Building Accident Report. Ministry of Works, Housing
and Communications, Kampala
[2] Gülkan, P. (2002). Recent structural revisions in Turkey to
mitigate disasters. Quoted in Earthquake Hazard Centre
Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1, Wellington, New Zealand, p. 5.
[3] Sheu, M. et al. (2002). High-rise building structures in Taiwan.
Abstracts, Structural Engineers World Congress, Yokohama,
Japan, pp. 63-89.
[4] Skempton, Alec (1961). Presidential address. Quoted in New
Civil Engineer, No. 99, pp. 19.
[5] Harvey, Bill (2002). Arch bridge assessment: an issue of
confidence. The Structural Engineer, Vol. 80, No. 5, pp. 13-14.

Biographies
Sooma Ayub, CEng.,MIEE(UK).,MUIPE.,REng.(U).
Sooma Ayub is a Member of Uganda Institution of
Professional Engineers and a Registered Engineer with
the Engineers Registration Board of Uganda.
He is also a member of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers (UK) and a registered Chartered Engineer
with the Engineering council of UK. He is the Chairman
of the National Technology Conference steering
committee 2006. Sooma holds a Bachelor of
Engineering specialized in Electrical Engineering and
Automation from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
and a Masters degree in Management studies
specialized in Management from Uganda Management
Institute.
He holds a wealth of experience in Airport development
and procedures, project management and
implementation, security systems/equipment, master
plan developments, energy management including
energy audit and surveys, power system engineering,
Airport Electrical systems and design, Generators and
building electro-mechanical services. He currently
works with the Civil Aviation Authority Uganda.
45
James moses omara-ogwang bsc (eng), r eng,
muipe, miee.
Nominated uipe vice president (electrical) for
2006/2007. Has served many years in uipe as council
member and on the membership, education and
training committee, and the publications and library
committee. Has held positions on the kampala branch
executive as well.
Has 15 years experience working in the electricity
sector in various capacities. Started in uganda
electricity board (ueb) as a graduate engineer and rose
to the rank of senior control engineer. After brake up of
ueb, was absorbed in uganda electricity transmission
company limited (uetcl) at same rank. Had a brief stint
with uganda electricity distribution company limited
(uedcl) as principal protection engineer before joining
electricity regulatory authority (era) as compliance
engineer. Has been with era for 4 years to date and is
currently also holding the position of acting manager
technical regulation. Is 41 years old and married with
children
James Moses Omara-Ogwang
Compliance Engineer
 46

Winfred Naluyinda Daudi Mugisa

Is a member of Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers and a Is a member of the Institute of Professional Engineers. He is the
registered Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board of chairman of the Technology House Development committee.
Uganda. She is the Chairperson of the Finance and Administration
Committee 2006 Mugisa holds a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering of the
University of Nairobi and a Masters of Science in Civil and structural
Naluyinda holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering specializing Engineering of the University of Sheffield.
in Mechanical Engineering from Makerere University, Kampala
Uganda. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Engineering degree He holds a wealth of experience in the training of students aspiring
at Makerere. to become Technicians, Technologists and Engineers in the field of
structural analysis and design and construction materials. He has
She has experience in designing Vehicle/Plant maintenance worked with various consultants and contractors on a part time
management systems, fleet management and inventory control, basis.
vehicle plant inspection for valuation, production workshops
management with a bias in machine shops, welding and fabrication,
foundry shops and wood workshops. She currently works with the
Ministry of works, Housing and Communications, mechanical
services as acting Engineer in charge of central mechanical
workshops.

Edward Kasule Musisi
Edward Kasule Musisi is a member of the Uganda Institution of
Professional Engineers (UIPE) and a Registered Engineer with
Engineers Registration Board of Uganda. He is the outgoing Vice
President, Electrical Division, UIPE a position he has held for two
consecutive Council Years.
Mr Musisi holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) from
Makerere University Kampala and has extensive training in
Telecommunications: microwave transmission, Telecommunications
Master Plan, Radio Frequency Spectrum Management,
Satellite Communications, Switching, mobile communications
He has a wealth of experience on the local and international scene
in telecommunications operations consulting on policy, regulatory,
licensing and management. He is a founding partner and currently
the Managing Director of Data Fundi (U) Ltd a successful ICT
Consultancy and Project Management Firm
47
Peter Balimunsi
Peter Balimunsi is a member of the Uganda Institution of
Professional Engineers and a Registered Engineer with Uganda
Engineers Registration Board. He is the current Honorary Treasurer
of UIPE.
Eng. Balimunsi holds Bachelor of Science in Engineering
(Electrical) from Makerere University, a Masters in Development
Studies from University College Dublin in Ireland, a Master of
Science in Development Finance from University of London, and a
Postgraduate Diploma in Economics from University of London.
He has significant experience in national and sectoral development
policy analysis, project management including identification,
appraisal, procurement management for works and services,
contract management, institutional development, and teaching. He
has held various positions of responsibility including: Project
Engineer, Area Manager, and currently is the Project Manager
responsible for major infrastructural development projects in
National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
 48
ENG. NKYA KIIZA
Eng. Nkya Kiiza is a Member of Uganda Institution of Professional
Engineers and a Registered Engineers with Engineers Registration
Board of Uganda. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Institution.
Kiiza holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human
Resource Management from Uganda Management Institute.
He holds a wealth of experience in Maintenance Management of
vehicles and plants and Training of staff. He currently works as a
Principal in charge of the Ministry of Works Training Centre situated
at Kyambogo where the Institution Secretariat is housed.
ENG. KARUMA KAGYINA
Eng. Karuma Kagyina went to Nyakasura School. He holds an
Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the
University of Nairobi.
He has a wealth of experience in structural engineering design,
design of site and services schemes, design of highways, site
supervision, contract management project formation and
management.
After many years in private practice, he worked with Kampala City
Council as Deputy City Engineer and Surveyor, the Ministry of Local
Government as Chief Engineer. Currently he is the Assistant
Commissioner in the Ministry of Works, Housing and
Communications in charge of District, Urban and Community
Access Roads.
Eng. Karuma Kagyina is a Member of the Uganda Institution of
Professional Engineers (UIPE), Member of the Institution of
Engineers Kenya (MIEK), Associate Member of the Institution of
civil Engineers (AMICE) and is a Registered Engineer with both
Uganda and Kenya Engineers Registration Boards. He is currently
the President of the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers.