The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Appeals Tribunal has cleared Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to rent office space on the newly commissioned building ,Pearl Tower One owned by city property magnet Sudhir Ruparelia .
The came after dismissing a case filed by Twed Property Development Limited (TWED) challenging URA decision to hand the contact to Sudhir . TWED had also put in a bid after URA called for bids for office space in Kampala’s central business district on April 10 this year.
The dismissal of the case means that Sudhir will now bag Shs 18. 7 billion in rent fees over a period of three years.
After evaluation, URA in May chose to go with Speke Hotel (1996) Limited, which represented Pearl Tower One, which Sudhir recently launched. URA at that time said that Pearl Tower One had the required parking slots (more than 1,000), which had been a major requirement.
However, on June 10, 2025, TWED, which had offered URA one of its 23-story blocks on Twed Heights along Lourdel Road, contested the results and appealed to the PPDA Appeals Tribunal for review of the decision.
TWED gave two main grounds for the appeal. First, it said URA’s accounting officer erred in awarding the contract to Sudhir as it did not meet the parking requirements. It argued that the building had not more than 200 parking slots according to the structural plans submitted to KCCA.
Second, it said the accounting officer erred in deciding that Pearl Tower One met the requirements without considering the bid and evaluation report properly. After reviewing submissions from all parties—including Speke Hotel, which defended its bid as fully compliant—the six-member tribunal issued its decision on June 30, 2025.
The tribunal explained that Uganda’s procurement laws allow accounting officers to investigate complaints by gathering additional evidence, such as site inspections, especially when new allegations (like the whistleblower’s claims) are introduced.
The tribunal is chaired by Nelson Nerima . Members are, Cyrus Titus Aomu, Paul Kalumba, Charity Kyariisima, Geoffrey Nuwagira Kakira and Keto Kayemba.
The tribunal noted that it would be contradictory for TWED to rely on outside information to challenge the bid while criticizing URA for doing the same to verify it.
The verification confirmed Sudhir’s compliance with parking requirements (312 slots + 100 additional), including off-site slots within 100 meters as allowed by the bidding document.