Nelson Tugume, the founder of Inspire Africa Ltd, yesterday issued a public apology regarding past controversies concerning his utilisation of government funds for various projects, most notably in the coffee sector. Appearing on the weekly Capital Gang show, broadcast remotely from Ntungamo, Tugume addressed the audit queries and parliamentary scrutiny that have plagued his professional reputation for several years. The entrepreneur admitted to making mistakes and expressed regret over the outcomes of his earlier state-funded ventures. "There is no one in the world that does not make mistakes,” he said. “I have made my own mistakes and the only thing I can do is to learn from those mistakes and whatever it could have been, I am saying, I am sorry." He further added that he believes the country's culture needs to evolve to allow for entrepreneurial failure as a learning opportunity. Tugume lamented the local tendency to condemn those who stumble, noting: "Here in Uganda, when you fail, you must be buried never to come out; but I have seen successful countries which learn from mistakes and I am happy to be the sacrifice of making the next generation get a place for the private sector and government doing business together." The Auditor General's Scrutiny The apology was prompted by intense questioning from the show's host, Simon Kasyate, who challenged Tugume’s capacity to deliver on his latest, multi-billion shilling projects. Kasyate raised specific concerns about uncompleted or questionable government-funded initiatives. “We have audit queries about you about things you did earlier on in Northern Uganda, how you got money from the government to ‘teach Ugandans how to drink coffee’… The question is, isn't this going to be another one of your great ideas that disappears in thin air?" Over the years, serious queries have been raised by the Auditor General (AG) about Mr Tugume’s government funded undertakings. A 2021 AG report scrutinised a contract awarded to Tugume’s firm by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) between 2017 and 2019 to promote coffee consumption nationwide. The report highlighted an expenditure of Shs1.9 billion out of Shs9.6 billion, intended for setting up coffee shops in areas like Arua, Mbale, Lira, and Tororo. A subsequent physical inspection, however, found these coffee shops were "either non-existent or non-operational" in all but one district, citing "mismanagement of the funds" as the reason for the negligible impact. The Ntungamo Factory Investment Despite his controversial past, Tugume, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU), continues to spearhead a major coffee value addition factory project in Ntungamo. This project has attracted massive public investment, reportedly totalling at least Shs179 billion to date, with Shs112 billion received since 2023. This includes recent allocations of Shs37 billion and Shs75 billion from the 2023/2024 and current budget cycles, respectively. However, the Ntungamo factory remains unfinished, despite an initial completion deadline set for December 2024. Furthermore, parliamentary committees have raised alarm over the lack of a legal framework governing this massive public investment. Legislators noted that only a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) exists, prompting the Ministry of Science’s accounting officer to consult with the Attorney General to formalise the government’s relationship with the venture, clarifying whether it constitutes a joint shareholding, a grant, or a bailout. Pleading for a Second Chance Tugume, during the show however, expressed hope that the current Ntungamo project, which CICU states is being used to set up a "modern precision technology on a soluble coffee plant," will succeed. He framed his current efforts as critical for the future of private-public partnerships in Uganda, acknowledging the intense pressure he is under. "I pray to God that this project does not fail," he remarked, "because the next young man coming would say, even Tugume failed, and that would prevent a generation from being allowed to fail and learn in the way that I hope to."