State House graft unit petitioned over factory

kayunga. Leaders in Kayunga District have asked the newly created State House Anti-corruption Unit headed by Lt Col Edith Nakalema to investigate circumstances under which President Museveni’s Shs1b soap factory in Kayunga lies idle, six years later.

The project had been anticipated to create at least 100 jobs directly and more than 700 jobs indirectly.

The leaders also want State House to investigate State Minister for Information, Communication and Technology and also
Kayunga Woman MP Idah Nantaba for allegedly “seizing” the factory meant for youth and women in the area.
However, Ms Nantaba rubbished the claims.
“You can go ahead and write any garbage about me. Some people have worked hard to bring me down, but they are not about to see it happening,” Ms Nantaba said on Tuesday.

Allegations
Led by the Kayunga District youth chairperson, Mr Ivan Kayemba, the leaders claimed that the factory that Mr Museveni commissioned in 2013, closed after operating for only one month.

“ It is good the President himself has created a special unit in his office to fight graft, let the team come and investigate what went wrong here, sums of money were sent but the factory is not operating,” Mr Kayemba said.

The factory under Kayunga Industrial Development Park is located in Bukolooto, a suburb of Kayunga Town.

It is said to have been a donation to the youth and women in the district to enable them get jobs through making soap and cooking oil. The President also donated three vehicles that were supposed to be used in transporting final products to the market. The vehicles, all in dangerous mechanical condition, are also grounded at the factory.

Mr Kayemba also claimed that the workers of the closed factory and expatriates still receive government salary, a claim that could not be substantiated as Ms Nantaba refused to comment on the matter.

However, in a telephone interview with, the minister said the factory was closed after it lacked raw materials such as groundnuts and sim sim.

The minister said in their initial plan , they had hoped to buy the raw materials from other areas such as Soroti , Pallisa, Kaberamaido and some parts of Busoga Sub-region but they realised that it was not cost-effective due to transportation.
“We are working hard to ensure that the President’s dream of industrialising the country to create jobs is realised .We are now looking at the option of assisting farmers in Kayunga and neighbouring districts to grow oil crops so that we can buy from them at a low cost. We are going to do this by providing seeds, extension services and some implements to our farmers here. This, I think will see the factory re-open,” Ms Nantaba said during a recent interview.

She, however, did not say when the project will begin and how it would be implemented. It is, however, worth to note that both Kayunga and the neigbouring districts of Mukono, Buikwe and Luweero are not known for sunflower or groundnuts growing because of their unsuitable climate and soils. In most cases, they are grown on subsistence scale.

Kayunga District chairperson Tom Sserwanga said the matter was political and he was ready to assist the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate at the right time.

Kayunga District Women Council chairperson Faridah Kibowa, who is also the National Women Council executive chairperson, wondered how the State House could look on when such a project is being mismanaged.

“That project was built using tax payers’ money which has all gone to waste. Something must be done about it,” Ms Kibowa said.
She asked President Museveni to throw more light on whether it is a personal project.

With a population of about 350,000 people, Kayunga District’s unemployment rate stands at 5 per cent with most residents in subsistence agriculture.

Matters known
Mr Don Wanyama, the senior presidential press secretary, said they are aware of the matter, but asked local leaders in Kayunga to be patient.

The State House Anti-Corruption Unit has so far done two publicized assignments –one in Wakiso District and another in the newly created Kikuube District. On December 20, security operatives from the unit raided Wakiso District lands office and arrested a dozen of surveyors, land officials and brokers implicated in fraudulent land dealings. Nine days later, a team from the unit arrested several security and intelligence officers for alleged complicity in a land dispute.

THE FACTORY
The factory under Kayunga Industrial Development Park is located in Bukolooto Town, a suburb of Kayunga Town.
The project had been anticipated to create least 100 jobs directly and more than 700 jobs indirectly.