In picture is Wilberforce Tumwesigye CEO Bwindi Mgahinga Trust
A leadership conflict has erupted across Kisoro, Rubanda, and Kanungu districts following the abrupt removal of several board members from the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust (BMCT). Originally established as the Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Conservation Trust (MBIFCT), the donor-funded non-governmental organization is mandated to support the welfare of local communities, particularly the indigenous Batwa.
However, former board members have made shocking revelations implicating one Wilberforce Tumwesigye, the Current Trust Administrator who orchestrated the exit of the board members chosen to represent the areas neighboring both Bwindi National Park and Mgahinga National Park to shield him from financial and administrative scrutiny
The ousted members including political and technical representatives from Kanungu and Kisoro accuse Mr. Tumwesigye who colluded with some figure heads to commission a biased study which reportedly concluded that local communities have received no benefit from the trust committee responsible for overseeing community projects.
Board members on local steering committee are mandated to financial facilitation for their monitoring and field activities but Mr. Tumwesigye manipulated the board and fabricated budget constraints to deny them these allowances, falsely claiming the organization was overspending.
“In several instances, he grew resentful of us attending quarterly meetings, stated one former member of a BMCT subcommittee. He believed we shouldn’t enjoy the standard privileges and allowances due to us for serving the communities neighboring the national parks”. Aggrieved board member says
The tension escalated when they began demanding transparency regarding the organization’s current operations in one of the board meetings, which they argue have deviated significantly from its core mission of improving Batwa livelihoods to finance his activities under cover-ups.
One of the active board members allege that Mr. Tumwesigye has aligned himself with a small clique of government officials who sit on the board by virtue of their public offices to eliminate dissenting voices who represent park neighboring communities.
They claim the commissioned impact study was a calculated pretext to justify removing them without even allowing them to stand for the next term with exception of one Marious Asiimwe said to have been his merchantry in executing his schemes on the board being a board secretary.
She told this publication that Mr. Tumwesigye recently convened a quarterly meeting at a hotel in Kabale to discuss the study’s findings and it was in this session that he abruptly informed the affected the Trust board members that they were no longer on the board, sparking widespread anger.
Another former committee member who was denied a chance to serve on a newly inaugurated board over misunderstandings with the way one Wilberforce is running the organization claimed that he had pre-printed certificates of recognition to summarily dismiss members who believe they were still eligible to serve. She adds that the meeting was attended by the Kanungu LCIV chairman who was also a member representing his community and this made them angry as several of them walked out in protest as they perceived it as public humiliation.
Another former board member, who resigned from BMCT two years ago following disagreements with administration, claimed that Mr. Tumwesigye is being used as a tool to destabilize the trust, as he called for his interdiction pending investigations to save the image of the institution that has stood a test of time.
The aggrieved board member further challenged the Ministry of Tourism and Local Government’s Minister Balam Barugahara to demand a comprehensive forensic audit into Mr. Tumwesigye’s conduct before he lives Kigezi as they vow to continue exposing manipulation and financial impropriety to the donor until action is taken. However, the embattled Tumwesigye has occasionally attacked the Kanungu District Chairman, Mr. Francis Byamukama (commonly known as Kapesha), of using BMCT resources to bankroll his political ambitions.
Tumwesigye who claims to have salvaged the now embattled organization from being eaten up by the past board leadership and administration said leaders like Kapesha had leveraged local committee membership to secure seats although agreived board members view him as a saboteur the NGO’s mandate
Available information on the website reveal that Bwindi Trust was started in 1994 by the Global Environment facility through the World bank at a tune of about 20 billion Uganda shillings as endowment fund to support communities conserve Bwindi National Park until fierce dispute over cash share which is likely to threaten the safety of donor and dwindling endowment fund.
The post Donor Fund At Stake: Bwindi Trust Administrator in Hot Soup over Illegal Board Firing in Cash Struggle appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.