Nelson Tugume used coffee farmers to steal Sh37b, M7 wants accountability

Uganda ranks number ten (10) on the list of the world’s coffee producers and number two (02) in Africa, only behind Ethiopia.

Uganda produces over 209 thousand metric tons of coffee beans a year and is known for its Robusta coffee production.

With those figures and facts, it is safe to say that any Ugandan who positions himself or herself well in the coffee value chain, can elevate themselves financially.

Nelson Tugume, 41, who hails from Ntungamo in Western Uganda, is one Ugandan who chose to use Uganda’s Coffee to maneuver his way at whatever cost, to elevate himself financially.

Tugume is a shrewd ‘businessman’ who will do anything to achieve his personal interests according to the people who knows him from his days at Makerere University where he pursued ICT.

He was a Minister for PanAfrican Affairs at the University and juggled several business ventures.

Tugume, used his shrewdness and his organization, Inspire Africa, to make contacts and started venturing into coffee by positioning himself strategically.

Between 2019 and 2023, he met almost everyone who matters in Uganda’s Coffee value chain including big coffee farmers countrywide.

He held several coffee campaigns abroad especially in Europe and South Africa where he was always introduced as the ‘Main Coffee Exporter’ from Uganda.

Uganda’s Coffee is one of the best Coffee in the world and through these campaigns especially outside Uganda, he got a lot of contacts, he is alleged to have defrauded many investors.

With a close working relationship established between his Coffee Investment Consortium of Uganda (CICU) and the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), there was no turning back!

Tugume wrote a proposal to the President requesting for $20m (Sh72b) to add value to Uganda’s Coffee export to fit the World Market.

Indeed, last year a sum of $10m (Sh37b) was forwarded to CICU and was supposed to be utilized by various stakeholders in the coffee value chain right from the farmers.

However, the money vanished in thin air and the beneficiaries were left wondering what to do next as he uses them as the basis in his proposal.

Tugume, is setting up a Coffee processing firm in Ntungamo and a source intimated that all the money was diverted to this project which is  personal.

Over 12 million Ugandans depend entirely on coffee for their livelihoods and this number keep increasing due to the high demand of Uganda’s coffee within and outside Uganda.

Uganda has recently been recognised and making speciality Arabica coffee beans; the Ugandan Robusta beans are known for their wine-like acidity, with rich chocolatey notes.

Just this week in the Cabinet meeting, the President tasked Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation in the Office of the President, Monica Musenero Masanza, to follow-up with the accountability of the $10m provided to CICU.

The Minister wrote to Tugume on Monday demanding for the accountability of the funds.