Naads sued over Shs4 billion tea seedlings debt

KAMPALA.

Fifty eight farmers have sued National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) over failure to pay Shs4.1b in tea seedlings supplies to Kabale District. Court documents filed through Joshua Namara & Co Advocates, indicate that the farmers are seeking payment for tea seedlings supplied in addition to general and punitive damages.
The farmers claim that both Naads and Kabale District have refused to pay their money despite several reminders.
They claim that they entered into a supply agreement with the two entities on November 1, 2016 but they have only been paid about 37.7 per cent of the money.
Court document also indicated that the farmers had tried to pursue the matter through mediation without success.
They claim that negotiation through Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister and Operation Wealth Creation failed to yield results.
However, in their defence Naads dismissed the claims, saying “the payment claim for tea seedlings has never been procured or wished to be procured”.