The minister for Finance and Economic Development Matia Kasaija has asked Ugandans and Members of Parliament to stop calling him and colleagues thieves over the controversial coffee deal they signed in February this year.
Kasaija made the Plea on Wednesday during and after a meeting with the Parliamentary trade committee that is probing the coffee agreement, his ministry signed on behalf of Uganda government.
During the meeting, the technical officer from the Ministry of Finance Charles Byarugaba informed the committee that government never carried out any feasibility study About Uganda Vinci Coffee Company, a firm it signed with the agreement.
Mr Byarugaba’s submission brought shock to members on learning that government entered into the agreement with a company minus carrying any feasibility study which would have formed a basis to sign the de.
However, what surprised them was Minister Kasaija’s reply when he said that government was more interested in having a company to add value to Ugandan coffee than the feasibility study.
His statement birthed anger amongst the members of the committee and among those who did not spare him, was the Jinja North division MP David Isabirye who asked him to retire for he no longer knows what to do, which caused an exchange of words between the minister and MPs.
In his response, the furious Kasaija asked MPs to stop calling them thieves because they are also human beings who are bound to make mistakes.
“Please hit us no more, don’t call us thieves over the coffee deal.”
Kasaija who is now in fear that he may lose his ministerial post had to cool down his temper and begged for forgiveness over the deal, alluding that members should not name them thieves because they are also humans bound to err like everybody else.
Ever since Kasaija and Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary, Ramathan Ggoobi signed the controversial coffee agreement with Enrica Pinetti, the Uganda Vinci Coffee Company Limited board chairperson on February 10, 2022, he has been in the limelight after critics termed the deal as controversial and unfavorable on the side of Ugandans.
Meanwhile, the agreement that has since landed Minister Kasaija in hot soup gives UVCC free land in the Industrial and Business Park at Namanve measuring 27 acres after indicating its capability to establish a coffee processing facility in Kampala.
It also gives the company exclusive rights to buy and export all of Uganda’s coffee and its concession will end in 2032 but is subject to renewal. The agreement also exempts Vinci from paying income tax, paying as you earn, excise duty, and remitting NSSF contributions. The document also provides a 5 per cent subsidy on electricity for the company.
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