The ministry of Foreign affairs has succeeded in signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with tenants of Uganda house in Nairobi to pave way for renovations.
The renovation of the building has stalled for five years even after a contractor was identified and funds availed to begin the works.
The contracts for renovations and consulting engineers were awarded in October 2015.
The high commission however, declined to sign the Shillings 17.2bn contract for the renovation because this would commit government and yet there was still a pending court case where tenants who had refused to vacate to give way for renovations had sued the high commission.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Patrick Mugoya says that there are tenants who are protected under Kenyan law by virtue of being long time occupants and these cannot be evicted, he notes that these tenants had sued to protect their rights.
The funds that were availed to start the renovation were returned to the consolidated fund.
This website has learnt that the tenants and the High Commission in Nairobi have now signed an MOU where the tenants will vacate the building and then return after the renovations.
The procurement of the contractor was eventually closed since the High Commission was engaged in litigation which had taken very long.
Amb. Mugoya says now that and MOU is in place the Ministry has requested the finance ministry to avail funds in the next financial year such that procurement of a new contractor is done.
