CDF Gen David Muhoozi Commissions Kakyomya and Kyangwari Infrastructure Development Works on 3rd Feb 2021.

On 3rd February, 2021, the Chief of Defence Forces, UPDF Gen David Muhoozi commissioned the 333 Mountain Brigade and 303 Brigade Headquarters  Infrastructure Development Works at  Kakyomya and Kyangwari in Kabarole and Hoima Districts respectively.

The CDF was accompanied by Commander Land Forces Hon Lt Gen Peter Elwelu, Joint Chief of Staff Lt Gen Musanyufu and other officials from the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.

Gen David Muhoozi applauded NEC and the UPDF Engineers Brigade for the high quality works that were completed in record time.

The works at the two Brigade Headquarters are part of the 07 major infrastructure Projects in the Ministry of Defence under a new arrangement where the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC ) is the Implementing Agency utlizing personnel from the UPDF Engineers Brigade. Two other works at Ruhengyere in Mbarara and at Kalama Armoured Warfare training School had earlier been Commissioned by the CDF last year.

Gen Muhoozi  noted that the acquisition of Kakyomya land by the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs  was both strategic and tactical and thanked the 333 Brigade for occupying and dominating it.

He said that there were plans  to set up primary and secondary schools in the Brigade Headquarter area.

The CDF  called upon the end users to ensure proper maintenance of the structures.

Gen Muhoozi used the occasion to thank H.E The President for nominating him and the Defence Forces Council for electing him and  Generals Elwelu and Mugira,who were present to the 11th Parliament.

The Commander Land Forces, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu thanked the CDF for strategic leadership since he took over office four years ago. He pointed out that  alot of infrastructure developments had registered and welfare of officers improved since he took over the office of CDF.

He informed the officers of plans to build  more Brigade Headquarters and thanked Lt Gen James Mugira the Managing Director NEC for his commitment and leadership that made execution of the two Projects possible within a very short time and at a cheaper cost compared to private contractors.

On his part, the MD NEC Lt Gen James Mugira observed that the commissioning of the Infrastructure works was taking place during the Tarehe Sita Week that culminates on Saturday the 6th of February when UPDF will be celebrating its 40th birthday.

Making a comparison with Namanve Industrial Park which was once a killing field for Amin and Obote’s regimes but has since transformed into an economic powerhouse, Gen Mugira pointed out that the area in which the 333 Bde Headquarters was set up used to be an enemy corridor in the late 90s,2000s that ADF used to move along the river from Congo to operate in the nearby Semliki National Park. He said that he was happy to note that where they used to have small detaches and Intelligence Cells had become a fully established permanent Brigade Headquarter.

Gen Mugira thanked the leadership of MoDVA/UPDF for the trust and confidence in the capabilities of NEC which he said had built requisite capacity in the field of Engineering and Civil Works  Construction.

 He further thanked MoDVA/UPDF for the strategic guidance and the huge opportunities given to NEC that  will no doubt go a long way in supporting H.E’s vision for self-reliance in order to  break the dependency syndrome.

He informed the CDF that NEC had carried out other strategic projects in the Ministry of Agriculture (MAAIF) and recently the construction of Kiira Motors Start up facilities in Jinja Industrial and Business Park  scheduled to be commissioned by June this year.

He noted that involvement in these Projects has enabled NEC to develop internal capacity and being in position to undertake major infrastructure projects of all magnitude at relatively lower cost without compromising quality standards because “there are no bribes and kickbacks involved”.

He added that Projects execution also takes a shorter time because there are no bureaucracies involved in the Procurement process which have in most cases been responsible for many Government Project delays.

Gen Mugira expressed his wish and desire to develop NEC Construction, Works and Engineering Ltd- a NEC subsidiary, into a National Construction Company.

The function was attended among others by the Ag Commandant UPDF Engineers Brigade, Brig Bekunda Besigye ; the Ag. Mountain Division Commander, Brig Moses Kwikiriza and the 333 Brigade Commander-Col Ben Seruwada.