The Executive Director/ Sericulture Project Leader of Tropical Institute of Development Innovations (TRIDI) Mr. Clet Wandui Masiga has refuted claims by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Hon. Dr Monica Musenero that she suspended funds for the project because there were being misused by project leaders.
Last week, Dr. Musenero recommended the suspension of the silk farming project, claiming it has led to a loss of Shs36bn to government.
Dr Musenero said the money was given to TRIDI, a private company, to promote silk farming but a due diligence exercise by her ministry showed the project failed to materialise.
“Up to FY2021/2022, TRIDI has received and expended a total of Shs36.2b. For FY 2022/2023, Shs42.4b has been allocated to the sericulture project, Shs26b through Vote 001 and Shs16.43b through Vote 002,” Dr Musenero said in a statement on Friday.
However in a press briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Wandui revealed that it was the minister who wanted to drive the project on her rules by misguiding them.
He said when the staff and heads of the project refused her direction since she was driving the entire project into a dangerous situation, she embarked on a mission of frustration, blackmail, criminal activities and eventual suspension of funding without cause.
“On Monday 31st October 2022, the Uganda media houses published articles suggesting that the Suspension of Funding to Sericulture project implemented by Tropical Institute of Development Innovations (TRIDI) was due to suspected misuse of funding as reported by the Hon. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Hon. Dr Monica Musenero. This is not true, there is no misuse of funds at all. What is true is that we have disagreed with Hon. Minister on the dangerous direction she was driving the company,” Mr. Wandui said.
The project
According to Wandui, in 2018, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations through TRIDI embarked on the project of rearing silk warms with aim of creating raw materials.
The project model is guided by the baseline and feasibility study that was conducted in FY2017/2018 which identified 10 entry districts and 40 other districts at the project commercialization/expansion stage. They are using a Nucleus farmer model approach.
This model is a large farm unit (plantation, large-scale farm) which guarantees a certain minimum provision of raw material for a large-scale processing plant or other downstream aggregation use, while the other part of the raw material is procured from smaller farmers who are linked throughout grower arrangement to the nucleus. In other words, this model combines both small- and large-scale farming and avoids large-scale farming and reduces transport and communication costs, requires fewer land acquisitions and distributes wealth more equitably and ensures the availability of raw materials to support agro-industrialization.
By end of FY2021/2022, the project had completed the construction of two shells for two research centres in Sheema and Mukono and had supported the establishment and Management of 2000 acres of mulberry in 24 districts which will serve as sources of planting materials to serve 50 districts and as training and research sites. The project also acquired additional 800 acres of land for the establishment of a silk factory and the production of mulberry for silkworm rearing.
Three more silk reeling and reeling machines were being manufactured and are now ready for shipping from China to Uganda. The installation of two modern factories was awaiting funds to be completed. Ten (10) shells for the rearing of silkworms were under construction in Mukono, Nwoya, Gomba, Mubende, Kween, Kitagata, Kiruhura, Busitema/Busia, Nakaseke, and Luwero.
The project employed a total of 139 full-time staff and 1300 casual workers who derive their livelihoods from the project. It has also recruited graduate trainees to be allocated to different project sites to offer technical support. 140 Ugandans are undergoing different pieces of training to work across the different activities in the silk value chain.
Genesis of Challenges
Mr Wandui noted that Despite the achievements, the funds appropriated to the project by Parliament and released by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development have not been released to the project since the beginning of this financial year.
“We disagreed with the direction the Hon. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Hon. Monica Musenero on dangerous proposals she was making and the Hon. Minister embarked on a mission to frustrate, sabotage and destroy the project, and the staff and the implementing institution, Tropical Institute of Development Innovations (TRIDI),” he said.
Mr. Wandui added that they sought guidance from the Solicitor General and the Hon. Minister responded by suspending the funds. To date, they have not yet received guidance on how to handle the issue. The letter was written on 2nd September 2022 and was received by the same office on 5th September 2022.
“This is my minister and a decorated scientist so I expected that when we disagree there is a professional way to handle and settle these issues.The Minister after realizing that she had been summoned by the Prime Minister and we have taken her to court for frustration and causing economic waste, decided to go to the media to blackmail us, which is so unfortunate.”
He added that since the matters are before the court, PM, and solicitor general, they believe that the mentioned offices will intervene to settle the issues professionally.
“The public should know that the minister’s utterances are all false. She only needs to understand the design of the project and its objectives. The government gave TRIDI money to procure land for the project whose payment was cleared between January and March 2022 and has never been registered in the name of Clet Masiga. This land is in Kween 100 acres, Nwoya 177 acres, Bulambuli 200 and Kayunga 400 acres. Any investments before the government procured land were done on private land.”
According to Mr. Wandui, the suspension of funds and withholding of the funds since the beginning of the Financial year means that the tender mulberry cannot be maintained, the rearing houses cannot be completed or constructed, training of Ugandans to operate the installed machinery cannot be done, clearing the payment of the machinery whose deposit of 30 per cent has been done cannot be done and there shall be significant losses.
“Our current investment into the project is now estimated to be valued at Shs73b. The funds are needed to support the implementation of planned activities which include the Commercialization of mulberry establishment on established 2,000 acres, the Finalisation of procurement of 2300 acres of land in Bulambuli District for Silk Development, Clearing the payment of Machines for post coon processing, Building of capacity for silkworm egg production and supply, completing the Silkworm rearing house, the acquisition of post cocoon technologies and the establishment of mulberry plants to take advantage of the coming rainy season and continuous management of tender stage of the established mulberry gardens. This project’s target was to create 300,000 jobs.”
He added, “We entered into contractual obligations to use next-generation technologies for us to have a global industrial competitiveness that combines our own innovations and foreign technology.”
Meanwhile, the Vision of this project is to generate maximum employment in the silk industry and silk by-products industry by attracting new investment and using the latest technology to improve the standard of living of the poor, create jobs, wealth and economic development.
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