PLU seeks freeze on Rwabwogo’s alleged Shs52 billion claim

• PLU alleges that Rwabwogo is seeking $14 million over supplies made to South Sudan.

• The payment and its contractual basis remain unverified.

• PLU also questions PACEID’s legal status, finances and accountability.

• Rwabwogo insists President Museveni lawfully created PACEID and has not terminated its mandate.

The Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) has asked the Ministry of Finance to halt an alleged $14 million (about Shs52 billion) payment linked to businessman Odrek Rwabwogo.

Kasambya County MP David Kabanda said the government should not release the money until authorities verify the claim and clarify the legal status of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID).

Kabanda, who is also the executive secretary to the PLU chairman and Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, alleged that Thomas Farm Company Limited, which he linked to Rwabwogo, had claimed payment for helicopters, spare parts and other supplies delivered to South Sudan.

He questioned why Uganda would settle a debt arising from supplies allegedly delivered to another government.

“If you supplied the government of South Sudan, why don’t you go to South Sudan and ask them to pay you?” Kabanda asked.

The claim has not been independently verified. No documents establishing the contract, supplies or Uganda’s responsibility for the alleged debt were available for this report. The Finance ministry has also not publicly confirmed that it is processing the payment.

The allegations stem from an earlier arrangement involving Ugandan traders who supplied maize and sorghum to South Sudan.

In 2018, Parliament recommended that the government pay $41 million in arrears to 10 Ugandan companies. The firms supplied grain to South Sudan between 2008 and 2010 under contracts worth $56 million.

Kabanda claimed Thomas Farm was not among the original beneficiaries. He asked the government to establish how the company became part of the compensation process.

PLU also wants government ministries, agencies and local authorities to suspend dealings with PACEID until questions about its mandate, funding and accountability are settled.

Kabanda questioned who appointed PACEID staff, pays for its offices and approves its expenditure. He also asked where the committee submits its financial accounts.

He acknowledged President Museveni’s power to create, merge or close government institutions. However, he argued that every agency must operate within a defined legal and administrative structure.

Gen Kainerugaba, who is also senior presidential advisor on Special Operations, has called PACEID an illegal organisation and accused some of its officials of corruption. The committee has rejected the accusations.

Rwabwogo, who chairs PACEID, defended the organisation during a press conference on August 25, 2026.

He said President Museveni created PACEID on March 16, 2022, to open export markets for Ugandan products. The government later placed it under the Office of the President on May 25, 2022.

Rwabwogo said only the President could end its mandate. He added that Museveni had told him that he had issued no order to close the committee.

He said PACEID had helped companies meet food safety standards, secure financing and reach foreign markets. He attributed part of Uganda’s export growth from about $4.5 billion after the Covid-19 pandemic to about $13 billion to the committee’s work.

PACEID now plans to establish aggregation, cooling and drying centres in 18 zones, he said. The facilities would help farmers and exporters address production and storage problems.

Rwabwogo warned that disputes over the mandates of government institutions could weaken investor confidence. He assured local and foreign partners that PACEID remained operational.