The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Bushenyi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Bushenyi district chairperson, Jaffari Basajjabala has asked the Western Ankore Civil Society Forum (WASCOF) to investigate the irregularities in the 9 Billion Shillings tea seedlings project.
He also directed the Chief Administrative officer to provide all the necessary information to WASCOF during their investigations.
The directive follows a red flag that was raised on the project by Juliet Kyobutungi, the district councilor representing Ibaare sub county and complaints raised by tea farmers in Bushenyi, who had prepared gardens but were not given the seedlings.
The 9 Billion Shillings project is a partnership between the National Agriculture Advisory Services-NAADS and the Bushenyi District Local Government to distribute over 23 million tea seedlings to tea farmers in Bushenyi.
Jafari Basajjabala says that despite the district council appointing a nine man member committee to investigate the project during the last council sitting last month, he asked the CSO to have an independent and clear report after carrying out parallel investigations.
He says the investigations will focus on the claim that 13 million seedlings were distributed to farmers yet there are no verification forms to ascertain the claim and also the alleged distribution of tea seedlings to Rubirizi district.
He says that during the stakeholders meeting held last week, they agreed that all interested civil society organizations are supposed to do the monitoring of the project, noting that he directed the Chief Administrative officer to give WASCOF all documents of the project.
Carol Namarah, the Programs Director of WASCOF says they had earlier requested to be given information on the tea seedlings, but met resistance from the technical team until the political leadership led by the Chairperson directed the CAO.
She says the minister also requested them to monitor and compile a report and also directed the CAO who also directed the district production officer to give them all documents.
Musa Asiimwe, a tea farmer from Kyamuhunga sub county welcomed the directive noting that he was asked to sign for 10,000 tea seedlings but was never given a single seedling.
Kiconco Biararo, a tea nursery operator in Buhweju welcomed the directive noting that the delay to supply tea seedlings to farmers is causing her losses.
She says the government through the Ministry of Agriculture did verification of her bed and committed to buying all the tea seedlings and supplying them to willing farmers in 2021 but all in vain.
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