Revenge of the Ruparelias

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WHAT’S UP!

The death of Rajiv Ruparelia last month was both regrettable and avoidable. He might have been driving over the speed limit, but that is not a death sentence in any society on earth. That death sentence was carried out by the person(s) who put barriers on the road and did not bother to leave warning signs. So, Rajiv hit them at high speed, and sadly, that was the last thing he did.

Rajiv’s death sentence was passed by those who neglected to effectively supervise the chaps who put unmarked barriers on the road, and it was confirmed by the government body supposed to oversee and supervise those supervisors, the contractors.

We were told by the works minister, Gen. Katumba Wamala (a decent chap if ever there was one), that the contractor had long abandoned the road works because he had not been paid. But if the contractor had abandoned the roadworks, who then put the barriers back? I understand they had been removed, then put back, then removed, and then put back again. Someone has been playing a deadly game of musical chairs with road users, and sadly, poor Rajiv ended up with the chair.

And then there are the people who hold the purse strings – Parliament. These folks will probably be best known for passing supplementary budgets for almost anything, but what about the roads?

In the last five years, a total of sh774b has been allocated to the International Specialised Hospital of Uganda in Lubowa, Wakiso district. This includes the sh298b passed in a supplementary budget in January this year. The hospital was initially supposed to cost $397m (about sh1.45 trillion), which was given to the Italian firm Finasi-ISHU company for the construction, and it should have completed the job by June 2021.

It did not, of course. But more and more money has been given to that project, including billions for supervising the uncompleted work. For sure, more will be allocated through more supplementary budgets before the hospital, which is said to be at 45% of completion (incidentally, MPs were refused entry to see that for themselves), and I am not a betting man.

My point is, if all that money can be given to a project that is almost 100% over budget, and with no completion in sight, surely, they can pass a supplementary budget to fix some of our really bad roads. If that contractor had been paid, the road would have been completed, and those unmarked barriers would not have been there. So, our not so-honourable MPs also had a hand in Rajiv’s death.

Now, if this was one of those Netflix movies based in either China, Japan or Korea, the Ruparelia family would be planning on having their revenge on those responsible for their son’s death. One of them would travel to a remote Ninja school, an old debt would be called in, and revenge of the Ruparelias would be truly underway.

First, the chaps that actually put the barriers on the road would be the first to go, to put more pressure on the bigwigs above. Then, their immediate supervisors would be next. By then, the contractor would realise things are not easy, and attempt to flee the country. But you know no one can escape those Ninjas, especially since no one knows who they really are. So, whether the contractors (I am told they are Chinese) fled to Xiao Zhai, the Ninjas would still find them.

Then there are those who did not pay the contractors, probably employees of the defunct Uganda National Roads Authority. Was the money allocated but used for other things? It happens a lot in our matooke republic. Whoever took that decision, the Ninjas got your number. Or maybe, someone in the finance ministry decided the money was needed more urgently elsewhere, like supervising that hospital in Lubowa. Beware of the Ninjas, mate, they know where you live.

Or maybe a supplementary budget was submitted, but those not-so-honourable MPs decided they were more important things like awarding themselves sh500m. I bet the whole country would be out in the streets celebrating when the Ninjas finally got to these fellows. And no, I am not a gambling man.

But the Ruparelias are honourable people, and they will not revert to that ‘eye for an eye’ kind of thing, although many would not begrudge them of it if they did. Instead, they will probably seek out the lawyers with the sharpest front teeth in the land and sue the bejesus out of that whole chain.

There was criminal negligence from top to bottom of that whole chain, and they, without doubt, caused the unlawful death of young Rajiv.

Forget the Kanyamunyu trial, or the Magara one gong on right now. This would be the trial of the century. We would get to know that the chap supposed to put up the warning signs did not do so because he had gone to check on a certain Mama Beere Ddene.

And his supervisor? Mama Beere Ddene was actually at his place, and he could not be bothered to interrupt his pleasurable evening. In any case, he had not been paid by his bosses in a long time, so who cares? And the contractor, you do not just abandon a project. There must be sections in the contract which govern ways a project can be ‘abandoned’, which guard against unsupervised employees more concerned about the Mama Beere Ddenes of this world than doing a proper job. So yeah, you are liable.

It would go right up to that chap who failed to pay the contractor, the dude in the finance ministry who did not see road works as important, the guy in the ministry who failed to ask for a supplementary budget, and the MPs who refused to pass it. Then the Ruparelia Revenge would be complete, and Rajiv’s soul would finally be at peace.

You can follow Kabuye on X @KalungiKabuye