Lawmakers have put the Ministry of Agriculture on the spot over a US$204.8 million (about Shs717 billion) livestock loan, questioning why so much of the money is earmarked for vehicles, workshops, and consultants instead of strengthening production on the ground.
The matter came to a head during Wednesday’s plenary as John Bosco Ikojo, Chairperson of Parliament’s National Economy Committee, presented his report on the government’s plan to secure US$99.56 million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to support the Resilient Livestock Value Chain (RELIV) Project.
Ikojo told MPs that accountability gaps made it difficult to assess how the project’s billions would actually be spent.
“The Committee observed that the project cost is US$204.8 million (UGX 717.195Bn), however the cost breakdown and outputs described under the project loan were not costed to facilitate oversight of the unit cost of the various outputs that will be financed under the project,” he explained.
The report highlighted heavy allocations to non-productive items.
“Part of the IFAD Loan proceeds will be used to acquire Vehicles US$2.796 Million (UGX 9,791,657,700), Consultancies US$4.464 Million (UGX 15,648,445,000), Training and Workshops US$4.111Million (UGX 14,402,657,000). In addition, the loan should be renegotiated to move resources from consumptive items to acquisition of goods services and inputs, as well as equipment and materials,” Ikojo said.
MPs also accused the Agriculture Ministry of frustrating oversight by failing to provide requested documents.
“Whereas officials from the Ministry of Agriculture were requested to share details of the costed outputs under the project components to facilitate oversight of the unit costs, none of these requested documents had been availed by the time the aforementioned report was authored and tabled,” Ikojo lamented.
One of the most controversial expenditures involved the planned purchase of 15 vehicles.
“A case in point is the project plans to acquire fifteen Vehicles which translates to a unit cost of a Vehicle at US$186.4 Thousand, equivalent to UGX 671Million,” Ikojo observed, calling the figures unjustifiable.
Despite the red flags, the committee urged government to keep the loan process on track, noting the deadline of September 12, 2025, for signing the agreement.
“The Committee recommends that given the constraint where Government needs to sign the loan by 12th September 2025, and the opportunity cost of Government of signing the loan in time is high, the MAAIF finds time to discuss the costed outputs of the project even after the IFAD financing is considered,” Ikojo advised.
Parliament’s warning underscores growing scrutiny of external borrowing, with MPs insisting that future loans must deliver tangible benefits to Uganda’s livestock sector instead of being swallowed by inflated administrative costs.