By Gerald Baganzi
Internet has over the past few months been filled with back and forth allegations that Odrek Rwabwogo took UGX37 billion for his personal gains.
This is not only false but aimed at tarnishing the reputation of not only the person of Odrek but his works at Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).
It is evident that the 37 billion always tagged to Odrek Rwabwogo was neither given to him nor PACEID but rather a consortium that had 21 coffee companies.
This said consortium was at the time of disbursement of the funds led by 10 individuals with Nelson Tugume posing as the overall leader.
In a meeting at state house Entebbe earlier last year, Nelson Tugume the leader of The Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU) told the President that they needed about 10 million US Dollars (37 billion Uganda shillings) to help in the export of required quality and quantity of processed coffee to the Balkans and other markets that had opened as a result of the growing tension between Russia and the West.
President Museveni in his wisdom advised that government provides the $10m through Uganda Development Bank (UDB) from which members of the coffee promotion consortium would obtain quick funds to ship coffee to foreign countries.
It is later that Tugume Nelson and his group of The Coffee Investment Consortium would persuade the President to have this money released directly to their consortium citing bureaucratic processes in banks. Some of the members of the consortium included Jackie Arinda of Jada Coffee, Kwezi Kutesa of Kwezi Coffee and Gerald Katabazi of Volcano Coffee. These have since left citing lack accountability from their leader Tugume Nelson.
If anyone wants accountability, they should refer to Tugume Nelson and the 21 companies registered under the consortium.
