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t::-,. armers & Promoters National Association of Uganda
Serena Conference Centre.
P. 0. Box, 28904, KAMPALA, UGANDA.
TEL: +256 414 371 042

Page j 1

29 th December, 2021

Dear Sir,

RE: APPEAL AGAINST THE PROCESS AND TIMING OF THE BIDDING FOR CASHEW
NUT FRAME WORK CONTRACTS LOTS 1-4. PR.NO.MAAIF SULPLS/2021-2022/00060
AND STREAMLINING OF COLLABORATION WITH PRJV ATE SECTOR
Salutations for the great work you are doing for the Nation especially through your Ministry ' s
. support to the Private Sector, which is tasked and is at the forefront of driving the Socio-Economic
transformation in Uganda.
-' In 2017, after a long spell of abandoning Cashewnut as a cash crop since 1970s, our case studies
into unrelenting small scale Cashewnut production efforts around Uganda had instigated some of
our members to seek for an engagement with H.E. The President. In that honored meeting, we clearly
elaborated and proposed to him the immense possibilities and opportunities through which
embracing the cashew nut value chain would bring to Ugandans.
His Excellency, The President in his wisdom, immediately instructed the line Ministry of Agriculture
to collaborate and support our private sector efforts and initiatives to establish and implement the
Cashewnut Value Chain in Uganda. To this effect, an elaborate Cashewnut Presidential Directive
P0/1 was issued as attached.

The Board of Directors, Cashew Farmers and Promoters National Association of Uganda along with
Uganda Cashewnut and Trees Ltd inaugurated mobilization operations following H.E. the
President's Cashewnut 2017 Directive working together with other stakeholders as directed. We
therefore signed an MoU with MAAIF in January 2020 to strengthen and institute The National
Stakeholders tasks in enhancing capacity building and mobilization of farmers, promoters and
operators in effectively guiding the introduction of cashew nut as a priority cash crop in the Ugandan
economy, mainly targeting to uplift household incomes and community small holder livelihoods
within the cattle corridor.
Through these private sector efforts, in collaboration with MAAIF, we have successfully:

I7 i) Developed and submitted our Strategic Plan with elaborate project priorities and
implementation plan for the development of Cashewnut value chain, broken down to financial
year 2020/2021 to the MAAIF Permanent Secretary through The Commissioner of Crop
t Production in copy to all other s ol ,
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' ! _O "'1. y ~ o_\ ~· : - MAAI F OFFICE OF THE MINISTE"
pS'S oF FICI:. < _ \-~'1.-\
Min is try of A1flc. Animal Industry

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J.Lll)L-'\ C\ -· o a t e rece ..

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ty\U , ~ ~ 11me; ................. ,.•., ••• •••••• .... • •·
I d b y ~-1 1 ,•• 11••··········· li 30 DEC 202~
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Re C I V e d by: ........~.:·.:·.:·.::·........... .. RECEIVED
~ 1'""-- Ac t io n by: ••········•· · P.O. Box 102, Enteb b e

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 We have mobilized all the relevant District Local G
. f
Ch 1e . . overnmen ts aro d th
Adm1111strative Offices orientatin o th un e country through
t:> em to t I1e adv an tao d b fi .
Cashewn uts and drivino awarenes s regard· .t . Des an ene its of plantmg
t;, mg I s commerci al and . . ..
order to incorpora te it in all Governm ent programs. environmental v1abil1t:y in

We have successfu lly submitted various proposals th h • .

· . roug communic ations to MAAIF dul Page 12
suggestm g the operation s of our establishe d Regional R C . y
. esource enter Groupmgs where
recomme nded seed, seedlmgs and operation al cost-effec tive strategies saving Governm ent
operators and farmers o_n resources and funds are operationalized; These proposals hav~
unfortun~ tely _been partially and inconclus ively adopted without clear guidelines or
consultat ion with all stakehold ers managem ent and staff a 111
, , s approve db y G overnmen t;
iv) We have managed to associate membersh ip, built capacity and mobilized farmers around the
country in collabora tion with key developm ent partners being the passionate nursery
operators , experienc ed farmers and profession al experts;

v) Construc tively initiated meetings with The MDA Directors, Commissi oners and developm ent
partners in the developm ent of this Value Chain;

vi) Encourag ed and supported Cashewnu t Nursery Operators to invest in acqu1s1t1on of

technical ly recomme nded and certified seed through mobilized farmers and district local
governm ents keeping your Ministry, NAADS and OWC informed, hoping the seedlings
. .
would be purchased for farmers· under the budget framework contracts. Unfortunately, none
of the two institution s purchased seedlings for the current season in spite of country wide
inspectio n tours deployed. However, our members were informally promised institution al
seedlings purchase in the next Season A (March to May 2022).

vii) Cashew Farmers and Promoter s National Associatio n has actually recruited and mobilized for
rofession al extension ists and trained in some districts causing sizeable local demands of
~ashewn uts seedlings for planting through various District Production Officers with secured
~
tarmers rea d Y to plant through subsidies ' as evidenced from various Official . .
requests for
·
Planting M t · I expressed to MAAIF and NAADS through The Assoc1at1on (sample
a ena s
requests attached) .

• · d as a priority Cash Crop approved by Cabinet with

viii) Cashewn ut is now recognize C
·11 It is one of the High Value Cash Crops that we are area I d
Governm ents' 00 00 d WI · Y
. d th 1·mplemen tation of The Governme nts' Parish Deve Iopmen t M o d e I·
benchma rking towar s e

. s· . . to bring to your attention the following concerns and

The purpose of this letter ff, is
.
recomme ndat10ns to stream me
rCashewnu t Value Chain as a Sector:
an have an
. . . . The Cashewnu t Association and The Comp y . C
i) Whereas the Ministry, together with . d the above listed essential
th informatively as regar s
MoU and have moved toge er V I Ch . tl1e Cashewnut project procurement
d C h wnut a ue am,
achievem ents into the Ugan a as e . eeking for pres umptive answers; They seem to
. der MAAIF pause us questions s ~
exercises un ~

(V'6
 ig no re passionate and va luable networks of existing costly private investmen ts . We attach
herewith the list o f our most recent resource centers and nursery operators. These cashew
passionate investors faced and continue to incur huge losses with abandoned seedlings this
season without any secured future distributions either.

ii) As partners in Memoranda of Understanding who committed to develop the value chain, we Page 13
should have been consulted or at least considered in project coordination, sustainability and
accountability as the private sector arm in the partnership of project implementation. We have
been there, constantly communicating for seasonal preparations, always.

iii) This procurement will eliminate most of our committed nursery operators that have been the
promoters of the crop, some for over a decade! Right now, our members have formally
imported seeds with the Ministries importation permit, established and maintained Nurseries
at high costs and await MAA[F and NAADS interventional relief in season 2022 A, not a
stringent procurement bid exercise that ignores their fate.

iv) The closing date is unfairly too close, this being a festive season; in the context of amended
bid documents having been issued on 22/12/21 for a closing date of 06/01/22 for only 14 days.

v) The way we have been growing and sustaining the infant sector was putting emphasis on
extensive knowledge, experience, quality controls and safeguards on the planting materials
and Good Agronomic Practices and not necessacily on the financial capacity of promoters
fa~ers or nursery operators, and we request this is main"tained or better still be heavily
supported for best results;

vi) Our President has often talked about rewarding originator initiative, and we add passion, and
ask that this is considered and find a way of maintaining or catering for those who have been
there for the Value Chain supplying in the past, hailing from experience and passion not know
who qualifications.

vii) Our Nurseries had a target to cause and supply their huge reserves of seedlings which are
currently being hosted in nurseries nursed at high irrecoverable costs, some members have
evidently regrettably slashed the seedlings out of frustration, which is a bad start for the sector.

viii) This December 9 th 2021 , MAAIF Procurement Unit without any invitation of key stakeholders
and as stated in the pre-bid meeting of 20 th December 2021 started a solicitation for a
procurement exercise in reference to serving The Presidential initiative which partly
embraces; "One million households to benefit from the project, two million jobs to be created,
intercropping for food security, integration into apiary for bee and honey production" for a
common Ugandan household;

ix) MAAIF Procurement Unit has gone ahead to unilaterally publish and solicit for a Public
Procurement and Disposal Authority (PPDA) unlisted or posted expensive process for the
procurement of Cashewnut seedling supp liers framework contracts. Our whistleblower

I ~
t
protes t aga in st this sophisticated emero . .
f:: d . cency Situ atio n stems fro m o ur o bservatio n. of
1rau u 1e nt practice wh ere the bid dem d · ·
. . an s appear as an 1nco ns1derate elim inatio n strategy to
most o f th e pass ionate pi o. neer ope rato rs.
· It 1·1
appears 1<e a structured beneficiary scheme t o a
. .
ne w ly arrived elite busmess class emerging fro m ministerial departments, outside the
comm_o n o perator who has been babysitting this infant sector on their own. Some of the
shocking demands include; Pag e

a ) UGX 1,000,000,000, ONE BILLION SHILLING BUSINESS TURNOVER· Cashew

nu t is. a new _priority cash crop in progress with associated, robust registered nursery
operations which have been sustaining the sector up until now. This huge demand that
definitely targets to eliminate all the associated Cashewnut promoters and operators without
respecting their value, renders them useless and thus coining a disinterest in the Value Chain.
Operators of ancient vegetative crops like coffee, tea and commercial trees cannot be directly
compared to a Cashewnut specialty. It's worthy to mention; NAADS conducted the same
Framework contract bidding exercise in April 202 1 without introducing such restrictive
th
conditions. The 20 December 2021 pre bid meeting chairperson talked of any tree/crop
nursery operators, but we strongly recommend only cashew nut traceable nursery operations
as instituted and safeguarded by the National Association.
Our practical experience is that; known, registered and subscribed nursery operators who
have established and owned cashew nut nursery operations, following standards privately on
their own should be given a chance to continue participating in these operations. We
therefore seek for ap indepen~ent ethical audit to investigate the purpose of such punishn_ient.

b) UGX. 200,000,000 (TWO HUNDRED MILLION) CREDIT; A 200M Guarantee from

a commercial bank and a bid security of 8,700,000 million shillings per region (4 regions)
are all very stringent requirements only casting to complicate the process and procedure
without clearly discussed and workable safeguard s. According to MAAIF Procurement unit,
the purpose is to appoint nursery operators with a financial muscle yet with an observed
disconnect unknown to the Association since they are closed out, unregistered , unsubscribed
and non-members thus technically untraceable from our databases .

c) INSUFFICIENT TIMING; The solicitation documents which harbored grand

procurement errors on page 21 and 38 of the documents were only spotted and corrected by
a pre-bid seating by private members in attendance who even then had not gotten any
opportunity to inspect the bid documentation unles~ they paid for_ its purchase._ 99% of
bidders in the pre bid meeting had not inspected the bid document - 1t was not available for
display. The revised bid documentation , as stringent as it is, was promised to be released by
the Procurement Officer and The Cashewnut Desk Officer only to be made available later on
22/ 12/21 during the festive season electronically for a same bid closing date of 06/01/2022;

Just to point out; Section 65, of The Public Procure_ment ~nd Disposal of Pub lic Assets
Act regarding Clarification of solicitation documentation guides; . . . .
(1 ), At any time prior to the deadline for bid submission, a procunng and di~posmg ent_ity
may, on its own initiative, or in response to a request for clarification by a bidder, modify
the so licitation documents by iss uing an addendum. And ,
 (2) Where a procurina and d. . .
. b tsposing entity considers it .
d ate to enable bidders to take ti dd d necessary, 1t may extend the closino0
1e a en um fully · t
° .
,n account whtle preparing their bids.
We observe such a lat e amen d ment seerninol
· . .
other than the bidders yet s d _DY compet rng against itself and its proponents
prea over a festive hol"da
1 1 • • •
members to respond in time. ) season as ideally very restrictive for

As an Association engaged in intensive Ca acit b . . . .

G P Y utlding, we realize our prime concern is standing
1
oCuht ~ ea r or our traceable and subscribed membershi p well involved into The Cashewnut Value
am .

f .he• best way •to credit reward o 1·

• mell•·t progress
• bases and utilizes
·· the file and rank of the private
civil and public sector servi ce record 1~0 II OYv111g
· d eliverables
· that bear results and solutions at hand.'
We regret to express that our clear· deman ds to · M AALF and Cashewnut Project · Management seekino
0
to address o ur co ncerns have not been recognized;

\\'c ad,
. isc
. · s .uooest
e~ and reques t t he accoun ting
· and procuring
· authority
· to mentocrat,call
· · y follow and
co nsider 1nst1tut1onal buildinob by·'

I. Follo"vi ng the PPDA Act and you r Accounting Authority; fn stitute an immediate suspension and
rostponement of the bidding process for a review, in respect to these listed emergencies which
:ire likely to cause an inappropriate bidding experience as the bidding exercise is also hastily
rrcscntcd amidst a holiday season. until when the consultations with relevant stakeholders are
thoro ughly exhausted to a logical c-0nclusion . A new mutuall y palatable and beneficial bid per iod
\.\ i 11. then be agreed .

Producin g and releasin g TI,c MAAIF/NAADS Ma~ -August Inspection Report of the recently
inspected Nurseries\\ ho arc still too o, er ~toc ked" ith thousands of scedline:s.
-
fnstead of com in t>o
across as an insensitive yet institutional action, this \\'Ould guide the current procurement. delivery
and consumption of the Qualified Operato rs' rc.nd y and verified planting material respective ly
g iving them a default priority to su pply, deliver and save the seedlings carri ed forward into the
2022 Season A. We wou ld then abl y consultativcl) plan helter together in resource mobilization
for the next procurement processes following the Presidential directive of IO Million Cas hew nut
Seedlings in 5 years - in othcrwards 2 Milli on per Financia l Year as wc proposed in our January
submitted stra tegic plan auached .

3. We request and seek for an ethical and technical results-oriented independent audit into the
uncoordinated stakeholder sector activities aligned to de li ver on the results stated in the
Presidential Directi ve in order to grant common operators a chance lo continue fo llowing best
practices participating in these operations but not make processes appear like inst ituted
punishment applied on purpose.

4. Request for an Immediate Key Stakeholder levelled meeting to discuss Implementations of the
Cashewnut Value Chain in regard to rescinding Guidelines and perfecting Standards, J\'ational
Seed Strategy, Production Strategy, Mobilization Strategy, Value Addition and Marketing
Strategy to relate , coordinate and understand; 1) Production and Markets \\ith variet ies and
species, production. markets and environmental sef\ ices informing market deve lopment: t:-admr
 for env~o nmen tal innov ation servic es, 2) Integration
for regionally integrated solutions;
infonn atlon for region al and catchm ent plans; impacts, effects
and contributions of The Value
Chain on clima te chang e; produ ction efficiencies; value additio
n development; private plantations
contra ctuali zation and manag ement , integration with existin
g agricultural systems and, 3) Policy
and Peopl e with a better under standi ng ofinve stmen t decision-ma
king processes; investment and
risk-s haring arrang ement s and an impro ved delivery of coordi Page 16
nated outputs.

5. Reque st for The Inter Sector al inaugural Projec t Steering

Committee engagements with extended
and fulfill ed invita tions to; The Minis try of Finance Planni
ng and Economic Development, The
Office of The Prime Minis ter, Minis try of Trade and Coope
ratives, Ministry of Lands, Housing
and Urban Devel opmen t, related MDAs l1ke UIA, NFA,
NAADS, NARO , NaFoRRl, OWC
among other institu tions that were deliberately incorporated
by H.E. The President in the
Direc tive for effect ive planni ng, manag ement and implem
entation of The Cashe wnut Value
Chain .

Thank ing you and lookin g forward to your prompt intervention.

Yours faithfu lly,

ILT .--c"~te~ ~ ~-B Lk~

~ ant'.dutsy
Chairman, Board of Directors; CF&PNAU Chairman, Board ofDir ec ors; UCTL
(

/4ini ster of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries

Cc;
iAmi ster of State for Agriculture
,,... ./',1inister of State for Anima l lndustry . .
v l VJ. •
J ,xecutive rrec or, D" t Nation al Agn"cultur e Advis ory Services
.
Chief Coordinator , Operation Wealth Creat~on
,,<,1· . fF"mance Planning and Economic Development
V 1VJ.1ms ter o ,
Minis ter of Trade and Cooperatives
.. t fLand s , Housi ng and Urban Development
M lillS er o . .
. Drr·ector Ugand a Cashewnut and Trees L1m1ted
E xecut 1ve , •
/ · D. tor Public Procurement and Disposal of Pubhc A th ·ty
N Executive rrec , Assets u on

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