BUHWEJU, October 31, 2024 — For the second time this year, the Ugandan Parliament has been forced to deliberate on the Uganda Coffee Development Bill 2024 — the Bill that seeks to dissolve the Uganda Coffee Development Authority [ UCDA ]. This push, relentless in its urgency, is backed by an Executive that seems determined to dismantle the only country’s successful agricultural body.
When this Bill was first tabled, MPs across party lines rejected it outright. Parliament, in rare unanimity, agreed that disbanding the UCDA would be a monumental error, a clear departure from common sense. Yet, President Museveni returned the Bill, dismissing Parliament’s concerns and choosing to override the voices of coffee farmers, traders, processors, and cooperatives. One must ask: Has the President forgotten whom he serves? Or has he come to believe that the Cabinet alone holds the monopoly on wisdom in this country?
The government claims this dissolution is part of a cost-cutting strategy. But how do they justify a claim of saving money while throwing billions at shadowy projects like Atiak Sugar Ltd which has so far taken Shs 530 billion without producing even a kilo of sugar? Or the infamous Enrica Pinneti’s Lubowa “Specialised” Hospital, a phantom project that has become a national embarrassment, costing Ugandan taxpayers over Shs 400 billion. Let’s not forget Roko Construction Company, which received over Shs 500. Is “saving money” the real goal, or is this about something far more insidious?
The idea that abolishing UCDA will eliminate duplication is equally absurd. If the government was serious about streamlining operations, why not start with the executive itself? We have a sprawling Cabinet with over 80 ministers, a dizzying array of Presidential Advisors, Assistants, and Envoys—each draining resources with little accountability. Why not reduce the redundancy of hundreds of Resident District/City Commissioners, Deputies, and Assistants? Can the President genuinely claim to desire an efficient government when it is bloated with political appointees who offer no value to Uganda?
Is there any other duplication of roles that is bigger than having over 20 Presidential Advisors on political affairs? Or having a Minister for International Relations, Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation & East African Community? What about having a Minister for Urban Planning and two more Ministers for Kampala when there is an elected Lord Mayor? What is the difference between a Deputy RDC & an Assistant RDC? President Museveni is a champion of creating multiple power centers all doing the same work and therefore has no moral authority to talk about duplication of roles!
Again if the President is talking about what he termed as parasitic agencies, he should start from his back yard; How many so-called Anti-Corruption Units do we have under State House? How much money have they recovered compared to what they have received? The Anti-Corruption Unit headed by Gen Isoke, then Investors Protection Unit by Col Edith Nakalema, The State House Health Monitoring Unit etc. Why don’t we first dismantle those outfits before we remove UCDA?
It is high time Ugandans realiSed that the government’s actions appear more aligned with an agenda to impoverish citizens, leaving them poor for easy manipulation. UCDA has, through tireless efforts, elevated Uganda’s coffee industry, empowering farmers with knowledge, quality regulation, and international marketing that brought Uganda’s coffee earnings to over US$ 1 billion annually, according to recent reports from UCDA. Parliament’s Agriculture Committee has lauded UCDA’s achievements, recognising that the authority is the heartbeat of Uganda’s agricultural sector. Removing such an agency is sacrilegious!
Transferring UCDA’s functions to the Ministry of Agriculture is nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen. This Ministry has proven incompetent, failing to support or regulate sectors like tea, sugarcane, and livestock. Farmers in my constituency are uprooting tea plants in desperation as tea prices plummet to a mere Shs 200 per kilo—the lowest in East Africa. The sugarcane industry fares no better, with truckloads of sugarcane that once sold for Shs 250,000 per going at lower prices. Livestock farmers watch helplessly as ticks devastate their herds, and the government’s response has been silence. Foot and mouth disease is rampant, with quarantines choking farmers’ incomes across multiple districts. When even the fisheries sector had to be handed over to the UPDF due to ministerial incompetence, why on earth would we entrust coffee—Uganda’s flagship crop—to such a failed institution?
The time for silence has passed. If coffee farmers, traders, and processors all oppose this bill, then who, exactly, is the President representing?
As we approach the third reading of this Bill, I urge my fellow MPs to consider their duty to the citizens who elected them, not to the whims of a government that is out of touch with reality. I call upon all Ugandans to demand that Parliament upholds the interests of the people and stands firm against this catastrophic bill.
Uganda’s coffee sector supports the livelihoods of over 12 million citizens—sacrificing it on the altar of political arrogance is a betrayal of our nation’s future.
The writer is the Area Member of Parliament representing the people of Buhweju County.
https://thecooperator.news/dont-dissolve-ucda-strengthen-it/
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