Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine
National Unity Platform (NUP) President Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has condemned the government’s decision to return the Uganda Coffee Development Authority -UCDA to the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisherie-MAAIF.
Speaking to the media at NUP headquarters on Monday, Kyagulanyi alleged that this move targets the incomes of coffee farmers, especially in the central region, and grants the government more control over them.
He added that the decision is a strategy to privatize coffee, similar to what the government has done with other commercial products like vanilla and sugarcane, affecting the livelihoods of people who depend on them.
Kyagulanyi criticized President Museveni and his administration, stating that their claim to cut costs is hypocritical when public funds continue to be spent wastefully. He pointed out the alleged daily expenditure of over two billion shillings by the State House, with little effort from the President to reduce it.
Kyagulanyi also questioned the decision to establish a coffee processing plant in Ntungamo, arguing that coffee farmers are spread across the country, with some regions being more productive than Ntungamo.
In the fiscal year 2022/2023, the government allocated money through the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Secretariat under the Office of the President to establish a modern coffee industrial park in Rwashamaire Town Council, Ntungamo District. Construction, which began in October 2023, is expected to be completed by December 2024. However, Kyagulanyi suggested that the project might have ulterior motives.
Buganda Caucus Chairperson in Parliament, MP Muwanga Kivumbi, stated that they do not oppose the rationalization of agencies and clarified that the opposition has supported about 90% of the agencies under rationalization. However, Muwanga Kivumbi noted that some agencies, like UCDA, have provided significant support to the general population and should be preserved.
Regarding UCDA, Muwanga Kivumbi argued that since Uganda consumes only a small portion of its coffee, local farmers rely on exports. He emphasized that UCDA has long worked to enhance the quality of Uganda’s coffee exports, and dissolving it would be a setback.
Meanwhile, NUP introduced Mukankwaya Tana Salim as its candidate for the Kisoro Woman MP by-election. This election will fill the position left vacant by the late Sarah Mateke Nyirabashitsi, Kisoro District Woman MP and State Minister for Defense and Veteran Affairs, who passed away on September 7 following a heart attack.
-URN
