Caption: Accused BMCT’s Trust Administrator Wilberforce vehicle (left) at one of the petrol stations
Fresh details have emerged at Bwindi Conservation Trust, NGO formed to work hand in hand with Uganda Wildlife Authority to conserve the environment around Bwindi and Mgahinga Gorilla National parks to promote tourism in the area which hosts half of mountain gorillas!
Outgoing trustees whose term was terminated prematurely have alleged that the Trust Administrator, Mr. Wilberforce Tumwesige, has been irregularly drawing fuel in jerrycans instead of fuelling from the pump, in what they describe as a fuel bonanza that threatens Trust resources.
These say that the practice has been normalized and at times involved up to five 20-litre jerrycans drawn from a petrol station in Kabale claiming that the fuel could be shared by the yet to be disclosed members.
The crisis follows allegations that Mr. Tumwesige colluded with some members of the board to dismiss board members, including the Kanungu Chairperson, Mr. Byamukama Kapesha which prompted them to question the motive of Mr. Tumwesige, whom they had previously accused of incompetence and unchecked spending.
These stressed that the Trust Administrator, who drives a Toyota Hilux, registration number UBR 038H, no longer goes to fuel stations to get fuel from the pump but instead goes with jerrycans to fetch fuel for his personal gain.
A former board member from Kisoro and one former driver alleged that he normally fetches the fuel while travelling over the weekend, adding that he shares the fuel with some board members.
It is understood that he started the habit of fetching fuel in jerrycans around 2022, although he had been consistently warned that what he was doing was very irregular.
Highly placed sources at the board, who have been following up the operations of the Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust, an NGO formed to support conservation activities alongside UWA around Bwindi National Park, indicate that he was warned by insiders but adamantly refused to stop.
A former board member, who seemed to have knowledge of the just-concluded board report, said that at times Tumwesige would get five 20-litre jerrycans from a certain petrol station in Kabale without being questioned.
Unfortunately, after realising that the former board member could oppose his practice on the board, Tumwesige allegedly fabricated excuses to have their contract prematurely terminated.
These allegations challenge the Minister of Tourism, Col. Tom Butime, and the UWA Executive Director, Mr. James Musinguzi, to stop paying a deaf ear to the matter, which they relate to systematic corruption of the highest order.
She argued that the money allegedly swindled in the name of travels should be used to improve the well-being of the Batwa. A few years ago, the organisation was accused of exploiting the plight of the Batwa by using them as a yardstick for financial gain that benefits a small clique.
The aggrieved trustee members said that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and unless the government or the Trust Board comes out to address their plight, they will continue to expose dirty dealings allegedly involving Wilberforce and some of his cartels at the board.
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