How OPM spent Shs9.6bn teaching youths how to drink coffee

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) spent a whopping Shs9.6bn to train Ugandan youths how to drink coffee, a report by the Auditor General being debated by Parliament shows.

Not happy, Members of Parliament (MPs) have tasked officials from the OPM to explain how Shs9.6Bn was spent considering that some of the coffee shops established in Gulu, Lira, and Mbale during this campaign are non-existent.

According to Parliament, Robert Limlim, the Director of Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) at OPM, defended Shs9.6Bn saying it was geared towards bringing the youths into the coffee economy.

He also said the money was also spent on the purchase of coffee equipment, but the Auditor General in his report queried the existence of these coffee equipment.

“The young people in Uganda need to participate in the coffee economy and one of the ways the young people told us, especially those in the city they would like to sell coffee and other merchandise but coffee had to be one of the items we promote. So, we needed to have partners that are able and working in the coffee industry to do this,” Limlim is quoted as saying.

The contract to train youths on how to drink coffee was awarded to Inspire Africa (U) Limited, a company owned by Nelson Tugume, an inner circle member of President Yoweri Museveni and the First Family.

Apparently, Shs3.831Bn was to train farmers on the production of coffee, Shs1.906Bn to train youths on how to drink coffee, training in financial literacy and business management skills cost Shs2.652Bn while the project administration cost Shs1.271Bn, thus bringing the total to Shs9.662Bn.