By Moses Kyeyune.
The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has recommended for the disbanding of the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development citing lack of a clear legal status.
The committee, in its accountability sector report for the year 2014/15 wants the recommendation to take effect within 30 days after the adoption of the report by Parliament.
The MPs observed that there is a risk that the project is currently operating without any authority and mandate in place.
The Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development and its Board and Management Committee was established by Executive Instrument in 2005 and its term renewed for another five years in 2011 which also expired in October, 2015.
The committee also raised reservations that the Banana project has been operating without an approved business plan and that aside from the legal status; the committee was concerned by the fact that the patent rights of the initiative were registered as intellectual property under the names of an individual, further risking the tax payers’ hard earned money.
