Coffee Industry Breathes A Sigh Of Relief: Bwanika Convinces Museveni To Postpone UCDA Merger

In a surprising turn of events, opposition MP Dr Abed Bwanika (Kimaanya-Kabonera, NUP) successfully convinced President Yoweri Museveni to halt the merger of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) with the Ministry of Agriculture for three years.

The merger, which was initially proposed by Museveni who enjoys the majority in Parliament, would have potentially jeopardized the coffee sector, a crucial industry for Uganda’s economy.

During a recent stormy meeting with various committees of Parliament including the Committee on Agriculture at State House, which had been called by the president to finalize plans of merging UCDA, Bwanika, a member of the Agriculture Committee, presented a compelling argument against the merger.

He highlighted the importance of maintaining UCDA’s autonomy to safeguard the country’s most valuable agricultural export.

Bwanika’s argument centered on the Ministry of Agriculture’s lack of “capacity to handle the coffee sector”, citing the technical people’s frequent “travels abroad and lack of presence on the ground.”

As powerful persons in the Government including; Robinah Nabbanja, the Prime Minister, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Attorney General, Ministers, and the NRM MPs, Bwanika emphasized the need to build the Ministry’s capacity before transferring UCDA’s roles, ensuring a smooth transition that would not compromise the industry’s quality and market.

The President, impressed by Bwanika’s reasoning, agreed to postpone the merger for three years, allowing time to organize the Ministry and build its capacity to handle the coffee sector effectively.

This decision marks a significant victory for the coffee industry and the millions of Ugandans who depend on it for their livelihood.

Bwanika’s leadership and advocacy, which is likely to ensure the continued growth and development of the critical sector, comes on the heels of the cowardly boycott of the meeting with Museveni over populism politics. Instead of lamentation, chose to go, and out-reason Museveni, and his team on the sector that Buganda Kingdom banks on to drive Kabaka’s subjects out of poverty.

Indeed, Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga, has always sensitized Buganda people to invest in growing coffee through his Mwaanyiterimba programme.

Bwanika’s speech was instrumental in changing the President’s mind, demonstrating the impact of mature and strategic leadership in shaping policy decisions rather than the blind opposition, which is the new brand of leadership.

Bwanika’s Full 3:58-minute Speech That Convinced Museveni

Your Excellency, (saving the Coffee Sector) is the reason why I am here…your contribution to the coffee industry in terms of quantity, quality, and the market is not disputed. However, Your Excellency, I have listened to you attentively and your proposals are wonderful but in some areas for the future, [they lack.]

This Ministry called MAIF (Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries) has no capacity to handle [the coffee sector]. The technical people there are ever traveling [abroad], they are looking for workshops, allowances, they are not in offices, they are not on the ground, and they cannot handle this industry.

Your Excellency, the Coffee industry is a business industry. It must find an organized Ministry that can handle its issues knowing that it is business. I want to implore you, Your Excellency. The concept of MAIF handling is not bad, but let us first build the capacity of that Ministry and get it organized so that we can hand over the coffee industry that you have built when they can effectively handle it.

I come from a coffee background, and I know your contribution to it. But should we hand it over to MAIF in that state, the coffee industry is going to collapse and 12.5m Ugandans who earn their livelihood from Coffee, are going to be affected.

Secondly, Your Excellency, the Coffee industry has a very sensitive market on the issue of quality, and the quality of the coffee industry is based on accreditation and certification (by several global entities such as the International Coffee Organization [IACO])

When they are certifying, or accrediting, they are based on an industry that is already built, they are based on manpower who are specialized, and Uganda has invested in those.

However, the moment we simply transfer the roles of UCDA (Uganda Coffee Development Authority) to MAIF, we are going to lose some of these accreditations and certifications that will heavily affect our market and it will heavily affect our incomes from coffee.

Your Excellency, I want to implore you and ask you humbly that it would be better to postpone the transfer of the roles of UCDA to MAIF so that we can be able to get some time to organize that Ministry to build its capacity to handle this strategic industry, which is a backbone to our economy.

I implore you, Your Excellency.