By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: In a jaw-dropping turn of events, the coffee expose by former Vision Group CEO and coffee farmer, Robert Kabushenga, has left NBS TV executives reeling as close sources spilled the beans to our Spy, on the staggering amounts allegedly received by the Naguru based media House, also known as ‘a command Centre’ from the promotion of the Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda project.
It turns out that the NBS TV executives were led to believe that their live coverages around the grand launch of the ‘Uganda Connect’ campaign and hub in Belgrade, Serbia, were service to Uganda, and not the fully Government-funded project that Kabushenga is now revealing it was.
It’s worth noting that NBS TV gave in its all in making substantial investments to ensure live coverage of what appeared to be a monumental moment for Ugandan coffee, beef, and other exports to the Balkan region.
They pushed the agenda to the extent that they even had their own CEO, Dr Kin Kariisa travel to Serbia to apparently secure partnerships with Serbian and Balkan media houses to effectively cover the project’s progress for Ugandans, all on the house, convinced it was a noble cause benefiting Uganda,only to turn out now that all this was Nelson’s ‘brain child’s.
Behind closed doors, a confidential source spills the discontent brewing within Next Media’s top management team, revealing this; “Man, the guys up here aren’t happy. Tugume and his team seem to have taken advantage of Kariisa’s passion for transforming Uganda and ended up having them spend the company’s resources in a project where profits should have been the focus, leaving NBS TV sales guys fuming and targets unmet.”
Going by all these developments, it looks like the Kabushenga bombshell coffee expose where over shs31.4billion of tax payers’ money was spent, is only the tip of an iceberg, as it continues to have so much more than meets the eye.
The development follows accusations by by Robert Kabushenga that Nelson Tugume, a member of Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU), under the Inspire Africa coffee brand has failed to account for over shs31.4billion meant for coffee development in Uganda.
According to Kabushenga, Tugume allegedly used taxpayers’ money to build a private “factory for instant coffee” in Ntungamo District, Western Uganda.
In another damming revelation, Kabushenga accuses Tugume of allegedly obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mastercard Foundation through Private Sector Foundation (PSFU) and claims that Tugume has not repaid the funds nor provided a transparent account of their usage.
Furthermore, Kabushenga highlights Tugume’s access to an additional US$20 million grant, suggesting that the transaction lacked adequate scrutiny. He emphasizes the necessity for a comprehensive investigation into Tugume’s activities and those associated with him.
The former Vision Group CEO also points out that an audit report from the Auditor General indicates the receipt of UGX 9.6 billion from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). However, Kabushenga expresses skepticism about the appropriate management and accountability of these funds.
He goes on to allege that the narrative of coffee value addition is a scam orchestrated by individuals seeking to exploit and control the sector for personal gain, leaving farmers with minimal benefits.
In light of these accusations, Kabushenga who is also a coffee farmer calls for awareness and scrutiny, emphasizing the need to uncover the truth for the sake of future generations.
Our repeated calls to Mr Tugume to comment on the above allegations proved futile. However, our Spy chances on a response by his company on social media where he rubbished Kabushenga’s allegations as shear rubbish.
In fact, he warned him to either withdraw the allegations or face legal battle with him. Nelson in a tweet even tagged the Commander of all armed forces and president, H E Yoweri Museveni.
Additionally, CICU has also castigated Kabushenga noting that his allegations are a total misrepresentation of facts fueling further speculation, hence sparking off unnecessary anxiety amongst their stakeholders in the coffee value chain.
“ Over the last couple of days, a mixture of outright falsehoods and selective facts have surfaced online regarding the Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU), our members and members of our Founding Council as well as the Coffee Value Addition Project being implemented through the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat at the Office of the President (STI-OP).,” reads part of statement signed by CICU CEO Tonny Miiro Kibuuka.
“Well aware of the need to be transparent to our stakeholders, CICU would like to clarify several issues that have since been raised by our stakeholders since the falsehoods and selective facts cropped up online.,” he writes before warning that; “CICU has resisted and shall continue to resist overbearing tendencies from any party that seeks to deviate or bully us from our purpose” the statement added.
Read CICU Full Response Below
In all this, according to our Spy at Naguru, NBS TV and Kin Kariisa regret for having been part of the machinery that promoted what seems to be a grand scam of 2023.
In fact, our jokes thus; ” At the time when this money was disbursed to Nelson Tugume’s accounts, Uganda was supposed to blow fireworks and enter to 2024 earlier than the rest of the world. This was the right time!”
Watch the space….
