UVCC was instead on Monday represented before the committee by the company secretary, Moses Matovu, company legal advisor Patson Arinaitwe and lawyer Anna Itaza. The absence of the Italian investor didn’t go well with MPs who questioned her action, noting that she had also snubbed previous invitations by parliament in regard to the stalled Lubowa Specialised Hospital project for which she has already received over Shs 300bn.
According to the agreement dated February 10, 2022, Ramathan Ggoobi the secretary to the Treasury signed on behalf of government while Enrica Pinetti, an Italian investor and the board chairperson of UVCC on behalf of the company.
The company was given free land in the Industrial and Business Park at Namanve measuring 27 acres after it indicated its capability of establishing a coffee processing facility in Kampala. It will be given exclusive rights to buy all Uganda’s coffee and its concession will end in 2032, but subject to renewal.
The agreement with government has provisions to exempt Vinci from paying taxes including income tax, pay as you earn, excise duty, and NSSF. This document has provisions that seek to subsidize this company giving them a special tariff of 5 cents per unit in terms of electricity.
Tasked by Mwine Mpaka, parliamentary trade committee chairperson to explain the absence of Pinetti, company secretary Matovu said that she had a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni at State House and could not attend.
Matovu said that he is vested with knowledge of the agreement and that this agreement is not with Pinetti but the company.
“The agreement is between the government of Uganda and Uganda Vinci Coffee Company not Mrs Enrica Pinetti. The way corporate organisations are constituted is such that under our laws the company exists as a separate legal entity, separate from its owners. If Mrs Pinetti ceased to be a director for whatever reason, the business of UVCC would continue. As company secretary of UVCC, I can confirm to you that Mrs Pinetti is not a shareholder of the company, she is a director and chair of the board of directors. I do not have personal business to conduct with the parliament of Uganda, I’m here as the legal representative of the company. If it is the position of this committee that interactions should only be with Mrs Pinetti, we would oblige and wait for the opportune moment. She was meant to be with us this [Monday] morning but unfortunately she was summoned to State House. The instruction she gave was that if she concluded her engagement there while we’re still here she would join us,” said Matovu.
Joseph Ssewungu, the Kalungu West MP said that the committee needed to interact with the board chairperson of the company and not anyone else. Francis Mwijukye, the Buhweju East MP also said that it was fortunate that Pinetti is in the country noting that she needed to appear before the committee personally.
Mpaka said that they would be proceeding well to interact with Vinci company and if MPs are not satisfied with the presentation, the committee would then summon the directors to appear on today Tuesday. Insistence from the committee members for the company directors to appear forced Mpaka to direct the committee clerk to summon the directors of Uganda Vinci Coffee Company Limited to appear on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Abed Bwanika, the shadow minister for Agriculture who raised the issue on the floor of parliament earlier this month asked the committee to recommend a cancellation of the agreement and hold accountable the government officials involved.
He noted that the agreement was in contravention of the Constitution, the National Coffee Act and other laws. Bwanika was in the company of other opposition MPs including Mityana Woman MP, Joyce Bagala, Mawogola South MP Gorreti Namugga and Mityana South MP Richard Lumu.
The former presidential candidate said that the agreement needed to be cancelled so that Ugandans who earn their livelihood from coffee are protected. In his petition to the committee, Bwanika said that the agreement was discriminative against Ugandans and seeks to alienate coffee farmers and that the exemption of taxes is very disturbing and needs parliament to look in the impact on the economy.
Bwanika also says that there is no evidence that the Vinci company has experience in processing and exporting coffee and that giving the company authority to determine coffee prices contravenes Section 52 of the National Coffee Act, 2012 which gives the mandate to Uganda Coffee Development Authority. Â
These same issues were raised by Bwanika before parliament and this led to the directive by speaker Anita Among for the committee to investigate the matter and report back to parliament. Â
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