Agriculture ministry tasked to explain how they purchased goats at shs.7.3 million each

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has tasked the Ministry of Agriculture to explain the circumstances under which Shs7.3 million was spent on the purchase of each goat.

According to the Committee, the majority of the goats bought ended up dying within the first week after distribution, with auditors blaming the supplier for intentionally supplying sick and emaciated goats to the government.

This followed a query raised in the December 2023 Auditor General’s report that queried the Shs15billion Goat Roll-Out project implemented in 7 districts, where the Ministry of Agriculture procured 2,902 local indigenous goats worth Shs1.156 billion and imported 71 goats for Shs528 million.

According to the Auditor General, John Muwanga, all the 150 goats distributed in Nakasongola district worth Shs52.5 million had died, whereas in Gomba district, out of the 700 goats distributed worth Shs245 million, 259 goats valued at Shs90.7 million had died, thus indicating that a total of 409 goats out of 850 distributed in Gomba and Nakasongola worth Shs143 million had died by the time of audit in September 2023.

Steven Kajura, Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Agriculture defended the cost spent on each goat saying the goats were bought from South Africa and were of a higher pedigree.

“The goats were got from South Africa & Namibia, we bought high pedigree animals and that cost includes cost insurance and flight so it came to Shs7.3 million. The exotic pedigree animals are usually very expensive, you are free to google and you will come to around the same range,” he said.