Uganda: Bunyoro Farmers Petition Museveni

Source from:  The Observer 12/09/2014

At least 1,000 tobacco farmers have petitioned President Museveni for an investigation into the alleged swindle of Shs 15.8bn awarded to them by the Supreme court.

Through Kagarura and Ssemugabi Advocates and Solicitors, the farmers accuse Capt Joseph Kamusiime, formerly with the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce, of extorting Shs 1 billion from an award of Shs 15.8 billion.

But the soldier's agents insist he was entitled to the money, having assisted the farmers earlier. In addition, one of the farmers' representatives, has written to the Internal Security Organisation confirming that they had promised to pay the money to Kamusiime if they won the suit.

The farmers say that in 2004 they formed Bunyoro Tobacco Farrmers Association after British American Tobacco (BAT) Ltd refused to buy their tobacco yet they had a signed agreement to that effect. In 2005, they filed a representative suit in the High court's commercial division against BAT.

In the suit, the farmers were represented by Sadrack Mwijakubi, Joshua Byangire, Suluman Kiiza, Asiimwe Mukitale and Suluman Babyesiza. In 2008, the case was decided in favour of the farmers. BAT, however, unsuccessfully appealed in the Court of Appeal.

In 2012, BAT appealed in the Supreme court and the case was still decided in favour of the farmers. Court ordered the tobacco company to pay farmers Shs 15.8 billion.

The money, according to the farmers, was to be paid in two installments. One of the petitions dated November 10, 2014 and addressed to the ISO Director General, Brig Ronnie Barlya, affirms that the petitioners were awarded 15,774,799,233.

"Sir, as soon as the representatives of our clients received the money, Kamusiime and [a Kampala-based businessman], extorted over 1,000,000,000/= at the detriment of the rightful claimants for providing them cover and protection from any authority," it added.

The lawyers allege that Kamusiime "formed a para-military organization headed by a one Delo Omony to carry out intimidation, torture, harassment and persecution of the tobacco farmers who demand their money from Mwijakubi group".

Kamusiime could not be contacted directly, as his phone number was switched off. Contacted for a comment at the weekend, his associate Omony said Kamusiime deserved the money because he had paid the farmers' lawyers both in the Court of Appeal and Supreme court.

"My boss [Kamusiime] signed an agreement with the farmers that in the event they win the case in the Supreme court, he gets fifteen per cent of the money,"Omony said.

In a letter to the ISO director general, dated November 19, 2014, Mwijakubi says that the farmers' representatives ran to Kamusiime for help after their MPs had abandoned them.

"We are convinced that we had the authority to hire services of anybody to ensure that BAT pays farmers' claims," Mwijakubi wrote.

In their petition, the farmers assert that their representatives Mwijakubi, Byangire and Kiiza, with the intention of embezzling the money opened individual group accounts in Centenary bank into which the money was deposited.

"That the account opened is managed by three members named above and that the farmers have no powers or say over the said account. And that the trio [Mwijakubi, Byangire and Kiiza] do transactions without consulting the farmers," they assert.

The farmers claim that out of the first installment of Shs 7 billion, they didn't even get 50 per cent of Shs 4.9 billion deposited on the farmers account.

The farmers wonder how Kamusiime and the businessman got hold of Shs 1 billion. Additionally they say that Michael Rugadya, son-in-law to Mwijakubi, got Shs 62 million on different dates.

Accordingly, they claim that their earlier efforts to report Kamusiime to President Museveni were blocked by the President's office, police and Internal Security Organisation.

Dickens Kagarura, the lawyer who currently represents the farmers, told The Observer on Thursday that Peter Walubiri, the lawyer who represented the farmers at the Supreme court, was partly to blame for their predicament - for not helping them to share the money amicably.

However, Walubiri last week denied any wrongdoing. He said he only knew three people who represented the rest of the farmers.

"I did my job well; I represented these people in court. After winning the case, since it was a representative suit, I told these three people to distribute the money very well and they told me they would do as I told them," he explained.

Walubiri said if the farmers were suspicious of the people representing them, they should have applied to the Supreme court to be added to the case. Enditem