H.E. Carlos Manuel Vila Nova, the President of São Tomé and Príncipe, paid a visit to the Kiira Vehicle Plant in Jinja District today.
H.E. Vila Nova expressed his excitement at visiting the car plant and praised it as an amazing undertaking during the visit.
“We go back and see where to start from when we see such a project implemented,” he remarked.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was also commended by H.E. Vila Nova for his steadfast dedication to guiding Uganda’s growth.
“My own brother, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is a key player in all of this. In the name of my mission and my people, I would like to express my gratitude for all that he is doing for Uganda and Africa. He continued, “I also want to thank each and every one of you for your efforts in carrying out this initiative.
Yesterday marked the start of President Vila Nova’s two-day working visit to Uganda.
President Vila Nova was cordially welcomed to the Kiira Motors Corporation car plant by Chief Executive Officer Mr. Paul Isaac Musasizi, who also told him that the facility was set up to support the growth of Uganda’s domestic automotive value chain for the creation of jobs and wealth through supply chain localization, contract manufacturing, and technology transfer.
One of the top universities in Africa, Makerere University, hosted the Presidential Initiative for Science, Technology, and Innovation, which gave rise to this business. The National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), a branch of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), is assisting us in establishing a vehicle plant on more than 100 acres of land where you are, Your Excellency. The construction is being carried out under the supervision of a group of engineers, architects, surveyors, and other technical staff from Makerere University.
“His Excellency the President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is really the brains behind Kiira Motors Corporation, and he really loves it. He understood that one of the things we needed to work on in order for our country to advance in industrialization is making our own vehicles, especially because manufacturing a vehicle opens up industrialization in the areas of iron and steel, silk, carpentry, electrical and electronics, textiles, leather, and so many other different aspects that come together to make the over 70,000 parts of a vehicle,” he continued.
Mr. Richard Gulume, the Jinja Resident District Commissioner (RDC), stated that Kiira Motors and his office are collaborating to make sure the project is successful.
Mr. Gulume said, “Your Excellency, having you here is a very big blessing. We were told that you are going back today, but we are requesting to stay for a few more days because Jinja has other tourist attractions that you will really enjoy seeing.”
“Kiira Motors is fully owned by the government, and we conduct our business through different subsidiaries, one of which is NEC Construction Works and Engineering, which is basically involved in such kinds of infrastructure development,” stated Eng. Brian Buhanda, General Manager of NEC Construction Works & Engineering Ltd. In this specific development, our position as government bodies has been achieved through cooperation. Every facility you are seeing today was constructed by regional businesses affiliated with our government.
In order to build Kiira Vehicle Plant Start-Up Facilities (Phase I) in the Jinja Industrial and Business Park, Kiira Motors Corporation and NEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) based on the Force Account Mechanism allowed for under Section 95(A) of the PPDA Act, 2003 (as modified). This came about once the Solicitor General approved the MOU.
On January 18, 2019, the site of the Kiira Vehicle Plant was turned over to NEC, and on February 11, 2019, development got underway.
Additionally present at the meeting were Ambassador Joseph Ocwet, the Director General of the External Security Organization (ESO), and General Jeje Odongo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
