Lack of reporting worries corporation chairman Inerehu

THERE is a breakdown in project reporting between the Productive Partnership Agriculture Projects (PPAP) and the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) board, says CIC chairman John Inerehu.
“According to the agreement signed between the World Bank and the Government on April 21, 2010, for the PPAP coffee component, CIC is the implementation agency for this project,” he said.
“CIC has never received any quarterly report, financial statement or audited account to track the PPAP projects.
“Since the inception of the PPAP, CIC has seen a decline in production in exportable green-bean bags of coffee from 800,000 to 600,000, especially in 2020.”
During the swearing in of the CIC board in July, 2021, board director Jerry Kapka said 2020 recorded the lowest production and export of coffee in 30 years.
Inerehu said this year, the board saw more than one million bags exported.
“And the CIC board is looking to steadily increase that number in the coming years,” he said.
“We have achieved that by using government funding through the Public Investment Programme (PIP).”
Inerehu added that the CIC board did not receive reports from PPAP which was a concern if “we are to be effective in delivering outcomes”.
The board last month requested the project managers of PPAP, the World Bank and the Agriculture Department to be accountable to CIC “so we understand their reporting mechanisms and work together”.