Nearly three years after Parliament and police first scrutinised billions of shillings meant for tea nursery operators, Rukiga County MP Patrick Kiconco Katabaazi is once again under renewed public scrutiny following a strongly worded intervention from President Yoweri Museveni.
The President’s February 22, 2026 letter to then Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka has breathed new life into a compensation dispute many believed had faded after dramatic COSASE hearings in 2023.
Instead, Museveni’s questions suggest that concerns surrounding the payments never truly disappeared.
In the letter, Museveni directly referenced Pathways Advocates — the law firm associated with Katabaazi — while questioning alleged deductions from money intended for tea nursery growers in Kanungu District.
“I am writing to direct you to stop crooks operating under a lawyers’ firm known as Pathways Advocates involving one Kyichooncho Patrick Katabazi that is extorting money from the tea Nursery Growers,” Museveni wrote.
The President questioned the justification for the deductions and demanded answers from government officials.
“Who is he to extort money from our people?” Museveni asked.
“What did he do to deserve this money? It is the Government that gave the money to our people.”
Museveni also suggested possible internal collaboration.
“Who are the collaborators of the extortioners in the Government?”
He ended with a blunt directive:
“Stop this theft.”
The presidential intervention has returned national attention to a compensation scheme that originated from a long-running legal dispute involving tea nursery operators and Government.
According to a petition submitted to the Deputy Attorney General by Wycliff Byarugaba, the matter began in 2019 when 734 tea nursery operators from Kabale, Kisoro, Rubanda, Kanungu, Rukungiri, Rukiga, Ntungamo, Mbarara and Mitooma sued Government and NAADS over unpaid tea seedlings.
The petition states that Government and the operators later entered a consent judgment in January 2021 under which Shs42.6 billion was agreed upon as settlement. Petitioners say outstanding balances and interest later pushed the figure to approximately Shs52 billion.
Implementation of that settlement would later become fiercely contested.
According to the petition, Government released Shs27 billion in June 2021 to Pathways Advocates through an NCBA Bank account for onward payment to farmers. Another Shs12 billion reportedly followed in November 2022, bringing the total to Shs39 billion handled through the law firm. The petition identifies Katabaazi as proprietor of Pathways Advocates.
But while the payments were intended to settle a longstanding grievance, they instead triggered a fresh conflict.
Petitioners accuse representatives and lawyers of making deductions beyond what tea nursery operators had allegedly approved.
“Without any meeting or any agreement with the nursery bed operators,” the petition alleges, lawyers and representatives charged “30% or more percentage of the money that was meant for the nursery bed operators.”
Complainants say they had agreed to a 10 percent arrangement for legal and representation costs but later discovered deductions allegedly amounting to Shs8.1 billion from the first Shs27 billion release — roughly Shs5.4 billion above what they considered lawful.
The petition claims the second tranche triggered even more serious complaints.
“This time round,” it states, “whichever money went on their accounts, 70% or more would be fraudulently debited back to Pathways advocates account.” Petitioners allege that out of the Shs12 billion released, farmers retained less than Shs5 billion while nearly Shs7 billion was allegedly redirected.
In total, complainants estimate that almost Shs20 billion may have been lost through disputed deductions.
Those claims later spilled into Parliament.
In 2023, COSASE opened investigations into Shs39 billion advanced to Pathways Advocates after concerns emerged over whether beneficiaries had fully received their compensation.
The hearings quickly became one of Parliament’s most closely watched accountability battles.
Lawmakers demanded beneficiary records, bank statements and proof of payment as several farmers reportedly disputed the amounts reflected in official documentation.
The standoff escalated when COSASE handed Katabaazi to parliamentary police for statement recording and further investigations over the disputed payments.
Katabaazi, however, firmly rejected accusations of wrongdoing.
He maintained that beneficiaries had received their money and defended the work of his law firm.
“The plaintiffs and the beneficiaries they represent have received money and are appreciative of our services and support,” Katabaazi said during the hearings.
He further argued that certain records sought by lawmakers fell under advocate-client privilege and insisted complaints were not originating from his clients.
Yet the matter remained unresolved.
The Byarugaba petition now claims COSASE had recommended investigations and prosecution of Katabaazi as well as recovery of money allegedly deducted from farmers, though petitioners say no substantive action followed.
The dispute later widened beyond deductions.
Petitioners allege that additional court claims seeking economic loss compensation subsequently emerged, resulting in disputed awards and demands running into tens of billions of shillings.
According to the petition, a Deputy Registrar awarded Shs61 billion despite the absence of a jointly verified report, while later demands reportedly climbed to Shs75 billion against Government.
Petitioners challenge those developments in forceful language.
“This is broad day robbery and outright theft and fraud,” the document states while disputing the awards and fresh claims.
They further allege that Government had already paid Shs14.9 billion in December 2025 even as fresh payment requests continued.
For Katabaazi, Museveni’s intervention means the questions first raised in parliamentary committee rooms have now reached the highest office in the country.
Whether the renewed scrutiny results in fresh investigations or simply reopens old political and legal battles remains unclear.
What is certain is that the tea compensation saga — and the questions surrounding the role of Pathways Advocates and the Rukiga MP — is far from over.
