Odrek Rwabwogo has hit back at Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s declaration that the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) is illegal, insisting that the institution remains lawful and operational.
Rwabwogo, who chairs PACEID, also called for due process in the case of Matthew Bagonza, a senior committee official whose reported arrest came days after Muhoozi announced plans to arrest PACEID officials accused of corruption.
“If there is a case on anyone, let it be brought before a competent court and tried fairly and impartially,” Rwabwogo said, stressing that arrests and the treatment of suspects should comply with the law.
He said presumed offenders should be treated humanely rather than humiliated, while evidence should be subjected to proper legal scrutiny.
“Matthew Bagonza can defend himself and the institution he works for. And let the law take its course,” Rwabwogo added.
His remarks followed Muhoozi’s recent social media statements in which the Chief of Defence Forces declared PACEID an “illegal organisation” and said members involved in corruption would be arrested. Muhoozi later confirmed Bagonza’s detention and made further statements about the manner in which the official would be treated, although no specific offence or legal basis for his detention had been publicly disclosed.
Rwabwogo rejected the claim that PACEID had lost its legal status, saying the committee continues to operate under the Office of the President and reports to President Yoweri Museveni.
“PACEID is operational and PACEID is lawful,” he said, adding that its quarterly and annual reports document its work and proposals concerning Uganda’s entrepreneurs and export sector.
He pointed out that Museveni commissioned PACEID on March 16, 2022, saying any decision to change or terminate its mandate would have to follow an established legal and administrative process.
“An anonymous message on social media is not that process,” Rwabwogo said.
The PACEID chairman further sought to reassure international partners, exporters, trade representatives, logistics companies and financiers involved in Uganda’s 13 priority product value chains, urging them to continue with their activities as normal.
The dispute marks an escalation in the increasingly public confrontation between Muhoozi and Rwabwogo, who are brothers-in-law and members of Museveni’s family. Meanwhile, Rwabwogo has said Museveni told him he was unaware of Bagonza’s arrest and had not ordered it.