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.
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However, members privy to the organization’s board have made shocking revelations implicating one Wilberforce Tumwesigye, the Current Trust Administrator. This comes after a 57-year-old Tumwesigye orchestrated the exit of the board members chosen to represent the areas neighboring both Bwindi National Park and Mgahinga National Park adding that this was done to shield him from financial scrutiny, alleging that trust funds are being mismanaged through fraudulent means.
The ousted members including political and technical representatives from Kanungu and Kisoro claim that Mr. Tumwesigye 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.
Furthermore, the former members argue that the organization’s constitution mandates financial facilitation for their monitoring and field activities although 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
According to the aggrieved former board members, 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.
Sources close to an active board member 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 systematically 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 Balaam Barugaharato demand a comprehensive forensic audit into Mr. Tumwesigye’s conduct before he lives Kigezi.
These are now threatening to escalate the matter by exposing the alleged mismanagement of grants directly to international donors if government action is not taken. However, in recent community engagement meetings, Mr. Tumwesigye defended his actions by accusing the Kanungu District Chairman, Mr. Francis Byamukama (commonly known as Kapesha), of using BMCT resources to bankroll his political ambitions.
Mr. Tumwesigye who claims to have salvaged the now embattled organization from being eaten up by the the past board leadership and administration said leaders like Kapesha had leveraged local committee membership to secure seats.
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 donor fund.
