The Speaker, Anita Among, has directed the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to conduct an independent investigation into the utilization of Shs1.9 billion allocated for the purpose of ‘coffee consumption’.
“We want to know who disbursed that money and who benefited from it. We need that money, and the person who benefited from it must bear the liability,” she said during the plenary sitting on Thursday, September 7, 2023.
It is premised on a report by the Public Accounts Committee (Central Government) on concerns raised by the Auditor General for Financial Year 2021–2022, on 15 MDAs.
The report presented by Committee Chairperson, Hon. Medard Sseggona, indicates that as part of the NUSAF-III program, OPM signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with M/S Inspire Africa Uganda Limited as a capacity-building partner.
The program that ran from May 16 to May 15, 2017 was extended for another two years, up to March 31, 2021, a period in which Inspire Africa was allocated Shs9.66 billion for its activities.
“The Committee takes exception that Shs9.66 billion had been invested in a project that was not well thought out, with Shs1.9 billion being paid for coffee consumption,” reads the report.
Sseggona said spending on teaching coffee consumption was a nugatory expenditure, adding that coffee shops supposed to be set up in Arua, Mbale, Lira, and Tororo were non-existent or non-operational.
“When a team of CIDs visited Malaba, they established that the coffee shop did not take long to operate because Inspire Africa never involved the trained youth. Arua did not raise the 150 youth for training,” further reads the report.
The Committee recommended a forensic investigation by the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) and other arms of government.
“If found wanting, the accounting officer and project director for the NUSAF-III project should be prosecuted for any loss of funds. A recovery mechanism should be instituted within six months of the adoption of this report,” Sseggona said.
Hon. Betty Aol Ocan (FDC, Gulu City) said that as long as the coffee shop in Gulu had been operational, it had closed.
“The shop was closed because Inspire Africa failed to pay rent. It was meant to be a youth project, and it was run for close to three years,” said Aol Ocan.
Hon. Yusuf Mutembuli (NRM, Bunyole East) said he had consumed coffee from the Inspire Africa coffee shop in Mbale, but it did not meet its intended purpose of ‘coffee consumption’.
“Nobody came to tell me how to take coffee when I was there. If they gave money for the purposes of teaching people how to take coffee, then I did not benefit from it,” Mutembuli said.
The Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Matthias Mpuuga, urged the House to take stricter care in monitoring social empowerment programs.
“It is an invitation to the House that whenever such programs are brought here for funding, we should undertake elaborate scrutiny on how the common person will benefit,” said Mpuuga.
ChimpReports has learned that on President Museveni’s orders, the Finance Ministry gave the consortium $1 million (Shs 3.7 billion) to help the consortium’s members attend and showcase their products at Uganda’s trade hub in Serbia.
Inspire Africa leader Nelson Tugume is the head of the much-touted Coffee Investment Consortium Initiative, which is set to receive Shs 37bn in the new 2023/24 budget to promote Uganda’s coffee exports. ChimoReports recently reported that the consortium had developed cracks with its members throwing in the towel.
One of the members of the Consortium, Jackie Arinda of Jada Coffee, said the “consortium has lost direction and members don’t know what is going on.”
Arinda said the Consortium’s leader Nelson Tugume “is not accountable at all and no longer holds meetings to update members on the progress of the consortium’s works.”
However, members say Tugume is yet to account for the $1 million fund.
“When we asked Tugume to give us a brief and accountability of the funds upon returning from Serbia, he kept telling us that we would meet soon,” said a consortium member who preferred anonymity to speak freely.
Large coffee farmer, Robert Kabushenga says the deal was fraudulent.
“Basically, this was a fraud. The same person advanced UGX 3.7 BN in May 2023 to promote UG coffee. But in fact, it was shared among seven people. When asked what they were going to do with the money, they said US$ 500,000 was supposedly to buy furniture for the Belgrade cafe/shop,” Kabushenga says.
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