The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has ordered the shutdown of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), days after declaring the organisation illegal and criminal.
The shutdown directive was communicated to the media on Thursday by David Kabanda, Secretary General of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), during a press briefing at the organisation’s offices in Naguru, Kampala.
Kabanda said PACEID had been operating as a corrupt organisation, allegedly receiving government funds without adequate accountability.
He said the committee had no legal basis to continue operating in its current form and questioned the circumstances under which Odrek Rwabwogo became its chairman.
According to Kabanda, when President Yoweri Museveni commissioned PACEID, he appointed Rwabwogo as a Presidential Advisor, rather than specifically appointing him chairman of the committee.
Kabanda questioned how Rwabwogo subsequently assumed the chairmanship and exercised powers he claimed were not granted to him by the President.
He also accused Rwabwogo of undermining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by appointing individuals as PACEID ambassadors in different countries.
Kabanda questioned the authority under which such appointments were being made, arguing that diplomatic appointments fall within the mandate of the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Where did Rwabwogo get the authority to appoint ambassadors?” Kabanda asked, according to the briefing.
The latest development comes as Matthew Bagonza, Rwabwogo’s long-serving personal assistant, remains detained at Kasenyi SFC Barracks, which has a detention facility.
Bagonza was picked up in the early hours of Tuesday by armed security personnel believed to be attached to the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATT) and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).
No charges have so far been publicly preferred against him, and authorities have not disclosed the specific allegations forming the basis of his detention.
Gen Muhoozi confirmed Bagonza’s arrest on Tuesday night by posting a photograph of him shirtless while apparently in custody.
Bagonza’s detention has drawn a strong response from Rwabwogo, who has called for due process and said that if his aide has a case to answer, he should be taken to court.
Rwabwogo has said Bagonza joined him in 2010 and described him as a clean officer who has served him loyally for many years.
The detention has also attracted appeals for leniency from some of Muhoozi’s allies, including Kabanda, who has described Bagonza as a loyal NRM cadre who may have been misled.
The confrontation surrounding PACEID escalated after Muhoozi publicly declared the committee an “illegal organisation” and vowed to arrest members allegedly involved in corruption.
He subsequently said President Museveni had sanctioned operations against what he described as a “criminal outfit” operating under PACEID.
PACEID was established in March 2022 under the Office of the President to advise government on exports, industrial development and strategies for expanding Uganda’s international trade.
The latest shutdown order now raises questions over the fate of the committee, its officials and programmes, as well as the legal authority under which it has operated since its establishment.
It also places Rwabwogo’s leadership of the committee under renewed scrutiny, with Kabanda and other Muhoozi allies demanding accountability over its finances and activities.
Neither Rwabwogo nor PACEID had immediately responded to all the allegations raised by Kabanda at the time of publication.
