“I think they stole the money…” Who is ‘They’?

Last week, at the opening of a fruit-processing factory in Nakasongola district, President Yoweri Museveni spoke of a seemingly unknown ‘They’ when he remarked nonchalantly, “We tried to build a fruit factory in Soroti, but it was poorly built, I think they stole the money…”

Who is ‘They’? In unravelling the mystery of this entity identifying as ‘They’, we need to go back to 2019. In 2019, President Yoweri Museveni was in a good mood. Happy president, happy people. In April that year, the president commissioned a fruit-processing factory, Soroti Fruit Factory (SFF), in Soroti district in Teso region.

Justifiably delighted with the development, Museveni revealed that he had worked hard to persuade Teso region to take up fruit growing instead of cotton growing. He told his audience, “Although it took long, I am glad that you [the people of Teso] finally listened to me. I hear that you have planted over eight million fruit trees, which will now feed this factory.”

The Korean government and the government of Uganda through the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) financed SFF. The government provided land, water, electricity and tarmac while the Korean government offered $7.4 million for the hardware and training of the factory staff, according to media reports. UDC is the majority shareholder in SFF.

At the time of its opening, media reports indicated that SFF had a processing capacity of 96 tonnes of mangoes and oranges into concentrate and processed juice daily. The factory was expected to employ 200 people and benefit over 1,000 farmers. The then minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, the affable Amelia Kyambadde announced that SFF was in fulfilment of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) manifesto of 2016-2021.

The forecast was bright and shiny. By November 2020, SFF was butting heads with the local farmers and politicians who accused it of sourcing fruits from outside Teso, reported Uganda Radio Network (URN). Agricultural experts told The Observer that the factory had been built for another type of orange – not the ones grown in Teso region.

As a surprised Ugandan might say, ‘Yiiiyi!’

By February 2022, SFF was in trouble over allegations of mismanagement and importing fruits from neighbouring countries. Soroti West Division member of parliament, Jonathan Ebwalu, stated before the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry, “Farmers are frustrated and are cutting down their trees… a big percentage of the fruits is thrown away and the factory takes on only 20 per cent of their fruits.”

Ebwalu accused SFF management of running the factory like a personal business. The then deputy speaker of parliament, Anita Among, who hails from the region, commented, “We have put a lot of money in the factory but the output is zero…” Another Ugandan might say, ‘Bambi!’

In March 2022, a report by the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry revealed the stench of rotting fruit in SFF. The report emphasized grave mismanagement, unfulfilled financial obligations and abuse of office and placed the bulk of the blame at the feet of the major shareholder – the government of Uganda represented by the UDC.

In further startling findings, the report documented that the government had sunk Shs 44 billion into the factory since its opening – in addition to the KOICA grant of nearly Shs 30 billion. So many billions, and no fruitful profits to show.

The government is currently seeking a private investor to revamp the factory. Teso News Network in a September 20 online article revealed that the investor has to source fruits from Teso region and revamp the factory machinery. On October 11, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja stated that the UDC had failed to manage SFF as justification for government plans to privatize the factory.

Dear reader, I present to you – ‘They’.

Let us revisit the charming quirks of Museveni’s speeches; off-the-cuff remarks that clown and jolt in one go. President Museveni’s statement, “We tried to build a fruit factory in Soroti, but it was poorly built, I think they stole the money…” reduces the failings of SFF to a tale of regurgitated mismanagement and steadfast commitment to missed opportunities.

In one word: They. He who has the greatest responsibility and has many a time threatened to stomp on the tiny toes of the leviathan of corruption casually passes the buck to ‘I think they stole the money.’

Remember the eight million fruit trees that Teso region reportedly had at the start of the factory? A farmer from Teso in an October 11 Daily Monitor article disowned the ‘eight million’ figure, stating, “We didn’t come up with the eight million trees figure as farmers; this figure was arrived at by UDC and it is on that basis that the factory was granted to Teso by the president.”

Are we even awake from this sleep of the liberators? Corruption and ineptitude have made a mockery of our aspirations. Now is a good time to bring back term limits.

smugmountain@gmail.com

The writer is a tayaad muzzukulu