The Government lost an estimated over Rwf278 million when it privatisatised Burera Dairy, a situation that made members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) question the value for money for public ventures. They voiced their concern on Friday, September 10, 2021 while quizzing officials responsible for the National Employment Programme (NEP) on issues that the Auditor General’s report for 2019-2020 identified in this programme. As a programme meant to promote employment in various sectors of the economy in the country, NEP implementation involves different ministries including that of public service and labour, that of trade and industry, as well as the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). As part of the implementation of this decision, on December 18, 2019, the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) and the Business Development Fund (BDF) sold their 548,970 shares –initially worth Rwf548,970,000 – to an investor for Rwf270 million. On March 21, 2018, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning approved the privatisation of all Government shares held in Burera Dairy – located in Burera District, Northern Province. The previtisation, according to the Auditor General’s report, was due to the failure to operationalise this dairy. As part of the implementation of this decision, on December 18, 2019, the National Industrial Research Development Agency (NIRDA) and the Business Development Fund (BDF) sold their 548,970 shares – initially worth Rwf548,970,000 – to an investor for Rwf270 million. The investor is African Solutions Private Ltd (Afrisol), a Zimbabwean agro-processing firm. This, the report indicated, resulted into a loss of over Rwf278 million. The investment was made under NEP. “Therefore, there was no value for money from investment made by NEP in the dairy,” the report concluded. MP Jeanne d’Arc Uwimanimpaye, and MP Christine Bakundufite wanted to know the decision that was taken to recoup the loss, and hold accountable those responsible for the loss. MP Jean Damascene Murara wanted to know the current state of the dairy. NIRDA Director General, Christian Sekomo Birame said that the dairy was performing poorly, and owed money to people (its creditors). “When it was owned by the Government, it was processing 500 litres of milk per day, but it is processing 2,000 litres of milk per day,” he said, talking about its performance after privatisation. This means that its capacity quadrupled thanks to the development. PAC Chairperson, Valens Muhakwa said that the reported fourfold increase after the privatisation of the dairy suggests weakness in the management of public assets by Government entities, urging improvement in this regard.
