Rwabwogo Dismisses Claims PACEID Is Illegal, Says Committee Has Museveni’s Mandate

What the report says

Odrek Rwabwogo, chairman of Uganda’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID), has rejected online claims that the committee is operating illegally. Speaking at a press conference at PACEID headquarters in Naguru, he said the body was created by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in 2022 and continues to work under a presidential mandate focused on expanding exports and industrial development.

According to Watchdog Uganda, Rwabwogo said PACEID was commissioned on March 16, 2022, and later placed within the President’s Office in May of that year. He said Museveni told him to continue with the work after concerns surfaced on social media. Rwabwogo described PACEID as an advisory and coordination structure rather than a replacement for ministries or regulators, with responsibilities linked to market access, standards, infrastructure and financing.

He also used the briefing to outline the committee’s export strategy. PACEID has moved from identifying foreign buyers to what it calls “PACEID 2.0,” a phase aimed at easing supply bottlenecks and building aggregation and processing capacity across export zones. The committee says it has supported companies in priority sectors such as coffee, tea, beef, dairy, flowers and steel, and has reported export transactions in the first half of 2026.

The controversy matters because Uganda is trying to sustain growth in export earnings while improving coordination among public agencies and producers. PACEID says its work is intended to help local businesses meet international demand more reliably, including by improving market access in countries such as Nigeria.