Close Banana Project, PAC tells Parliament

PARLIAMENT. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has recommended disbandment of the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PIBID) for an amorphous legal status.

In its accountability sector report for the 2014/15 financial year, the Committee wants PIBID disbanded within 30 days after the adoption of the report by Parliament.
“PIBID should be disbanded and no more funds should be allocated to it until its legal status is regularised,” the report reads in part.

The MPs observed that “there is a risk that the project is currently operating without any authority and mandate in place.”
PAC further observed: “It is clear that the legal status of PIBID and its Board and Management Committee remains questionable. It was, therefore, noted that by the time of writing this report, no evidence was available from PIBID management to show that the issue of the legal status had been or is being resolved.”

The committee also raised reservations that the Banana project has been operating without an approved business plan despite banana research developing into a fully-fledged production level and expected to go into commercialisation of the product.
All these, the MPs observed, result in duplication and wastage of public resources. The MPs advised that the Banana Initiative should be placed under the ministry of Agriculture.

As of December 2015, the project was suffocating with a debt of Shs8.4 billion to utilities and service providers.
Besides the questionable legal status, the parliamentary committee was concerned that the patent rights of the initiative were registered as intellectual property under the names of an individual, further risking taxpayers’ money.

“It appears these patents were registered without guidance from the Attorney General and therefore, it is difficult to know whether government’s stake in the patents was taken care of following the huge investment of more than Shs50b in the project through the ministry of Finance.”

The report adds that, “only three out of the five patents were registered in Uganda while the two were registered with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation”.
The committee further observed that Shs192.7 million meant for payment of services such as fuel and utility costs was paid to personal accounts, contrary to established procedure.

The MPs recommended that the money be recovered within 30 days after the adoption of the report by the House. They also said the Inspector General of Government should investigate the Banana project manager for alleged malpractices.
Parliament was yesterday expected to adopt the report but the House was prematurely adjourned and debate resumes today.

Background
Formation. PIBID was established by an Executive instrument in 2005 and its term renewed for another five years in 2011, which also expired in October 2015.

Ignored advice. Subsequently, then Attorney General Peter Nyombi advised that the project be established as a public agricultural research institute under the National Agricultural Research Act 2005 lest it faced legal challenges. The advice was ignored.

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