Kampala, Uganda | URN | The Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) wants the Ministry of Finance to halt over fifty-two billion shillings (US$14 million) to the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).
The demand is part of a widening dispute between the Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, and the Chairperson of PACEID, Odrek Rwabwogo, alos one of the sons-in-law to the President.
General Muhoozi recently declared on his X that PACIED is an illegal entity, while Rwabogo has insisted that President Museveni, who created the entity, has not disbanded it and therefore it is lawfully in operation.
Now, Kasambya County MP David Kabanda, who is Executive Secretary to PLU chairman Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the organisation wants government ministries, departments, agencies and local governments to suspend dealings with PACEID until questions surrounding its establishment, financing, staffing and accountability are resolved.
Kabanda addressed a press conference in Kampala at which he conveyed a position he said had been directed by Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Kabanda said President Yoweri Museveni has constitutional authority to create, abolish or merge government departments and agencies, but argued that such institutions must operate within a defined legal and administrative framework covering staffing, financing, governance and accountability.
He questioned where PACEID fits within that framework, particularly given its involvement in government programmes and access to public resources.
“The country needs to know who appointed him as the chairman of PACEID,” Kabanda said
He questioned whether Rwabwogo went through the procedures ordinarily required for the creation and staffing of a government entity.
He also questioned who serves as PACEID’s accounting officer, who recruited its employees, who pays for its offices and where the organisation submits its financial accountability.
Kabanda said Rwabwogo’s appointment by President Museveni as a senior presidential adviser did not, by itself, establish an independent government organisation with powers to recruit staff and administer public funds outside established government structures.
He compared PACEID to other presidential initiatives, including the Anti-Corruption Unit, which he said also operate within established government procedures.
The PLU official also questioned PACEID’s involvement in appointing or deploying trade envoys, arguing that Uganda already has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions responsible for the country’s external relations.
The dispute has been further complicated by an allegation that the Ministry of Finance is preparing to pay about US$14 million to Rwabwogo or a company associated with him.
Kabanda alleged that the money relates to a transaction involving the supply of helicopters and other materials to the government of South Sudan. He questioned why Uganda’s Treasury would be responsible for the payment if the alleged supplies were made to South Sudan.
“If you supplied the government of South Sudan and you are not in the original agreement, why don’t you go to South Sudan and ask them to pay you?” Kabanda asked.
Kabanda also questioned the ownership and activities of the company he linked to Rwabwogo.
Kabanda said information reaching PLU indicated that the Ministry of Finance was preparing to make the alleged payment and called for the transaction to be stopped pending clarification.
However, the specific US$14 million claim, the contractual arrangements surrounding the alleged helicopter supply and the basis on which Uganda would be responsible for the payment could not independently be established for this report.
Earlier reporting on South Sudan compensation claims established that Tomosi’s Farm Bwesharire Limited, a company associated with Rwabwogo, was among three companies later included in a compensation arrangement involving the South Sudan government.
A 2023 report said Tomosi’s Farm had a US$10 million claim at the time, although the claims had not been independently verified when Parliament considered the matter.
The earlier South Sudan compensation dispute dates back to supplies made by Ugandan companies between 2008 and 2010. Parliament investigated claims involving US$41 million owed to 10 companies under the Uganda South Sudan Grain Traders and Suppliers Association.
The historical compensation dispute, however, does not by itself establish PLU’s current allegation concerning a US$14 million payment or the alleged helicopter supply.
Kabanda also revived allegations concerning land in Nshaara, Kiruhura District. He claimed Rwabwogo initially introduced a Chinese company to President Museveni for a proposed beef-processing project but later acquired interests in the land after the project failed to materialise.
Kabanda further alleged that the land titles were subsequently changed and that Rwabwogo is now using the property for grazing. The allegations have not been established through a court judgment or official finding.
Any determination would require examination of land records and responses from the parties.
The dispute has coincided with reports of the detention of Matthew Bagonza, head of the PACEID secretariat and an associate of Rwabwogo.
Reports said security personnel picked up Bagonza from his home, although the circumstances of his reported detention and any charges against him had not been fully established in public statements.
Rwabwogo has since called for due process in any case against Bagonza, saying allegations should be handled by a competent court and tried fairly and impartially.
Rwabwogo has rejected the allegations against PACEID and defended its legality and performance.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, Rwabwogo said PACEID was established on March 16, 2022, to open export markets for Ugandan products before being placed under the Office of the President on May 25 of the same year.
He said the organisation’s mandate could only be terminated by President Museveni, whom he said created it, and that the President had told him no such order had been issued.
Rwabwogo said PACEID had been working to improve food safety and export compliance, negotiate transport and infrastructure arrangements and facilitate low-cost financing for companies with confirmed export orders. He said the committee had surpassed its initial target of generating US$6 billion in exports and attributed part of the growth in Uganda’s exports to its work.
Rwabwogo said Uganda’s exports had increased from about US$4.5 billion after the COVID-19 pandemic to approximately US$13 billion.
PACEID’s own public communications similarly describe its work as focusing on export-market access, standards, infrastructure and export financing.
Rwabwogo said the committee had now entered a second phase focused on establishing aggregation, cooling and drying centres across 18 zones to address supply constraints affecting exporters.
He warned that uncertainty surrounding government institutions and their mandates could undermine investor confidence and said PACEID wanted to reassure domestic and international partners that Uganda’s markets remained open and its commitments intact.
The dispute now leaves questions over PACEID’s legal and administrative status, the accountability arrangements governing its public activities, and the basis of the alleged US$14 million payment, requiring clarification from the relevant government agencies and parties to the transaction.
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