How Museveni got the coffee law passed

In April, lawmakers blocked the rationalization and merger of several government agencies, key ones being UCDA, National Agricultural Advisory Service (Naads), Dairy Development Authority (DDA), Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), among others. It was the first public defiance of President Museveni’s calls to support the process.

The Rationalization of Public Institutions and Public Expenditure (Rapex) was first mooted in 2018 and is estimated to save the country Sh1 trillion and birth efficiency in government ministries.

President Museveni, the main proponent of this policy, and his cabinet had long agreed to the rationalization, and the legislature needed only to adjust the other legal regime accordingly. But April’s open defiance would mark the beginning of a war, culminating in the passage of the 2024 National Coffee Law Amendment Bill on November 6.

The bill, introduced on March 27, has become particularly controversial because of its desire to bring UCDA operations back to Ma’aif. Sensing resistance to the bill, Mr. Museveni went on the offensive. So, he has implemented several tactics to push his agenda that have driven leaders and stakeholders to extremes over the past month or so. It eventually turned into a war of words until President Museveni got his way on November 6.

To drive his agenda, President Museveni resorted to isolating the majority of NRM lawmakers who disagreed with his position from the rest of the opposition and independent lawmakers. Between April and yesterday, Mr Museveni met with NRM lawmakers who make up the majority in the House of Representatives. Issues of rationalization were discussed at least four times. Two of these meetings, one on September 6 and the other on November 1, centered around the coffee bill.

During a September 6 meeting at the House of States in Entebbe, President Museveni, his press office said, succeeded in convincing NRM lawmakers that Maaif would be empowered to cultivate Uganda’s main cash crop. The main point of opposition to the merger by most legislators was that Maaif lacked the capacity and desire to sustain the good work UCDA had been doing so far. Coffee is now Uganda’s biggest export.

“Since you people are saying that civil servants are inactive, they are not responding, well, I know them myself, but when we get an army worm, who fights it? These sleepy people come up and fight the armyworm. When we get the locust, like when it came, who fought the locust? It was the army, and these sleepy people, if you wake them up, they can do some work,” Museveni was quoted as saying by the Presidential Press Office (PPU).

“Having thoroughly discussed the keynote speech of His Excellency the President and National Chairman of NRM, we hereby decree the following: Support the introduction and passage by Parliament of all bills on rationalization of public institutions and public expenditure (Rapex) provide for a three-year transition period for the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the National Information Authority of Technology of Uganda (NITA-U),” PPU quoted Chief Government Official Obua Denis Hamson as saying.

Earlier, on September 2, he met with members of the Committee of the House of Representatives on National Economy, Agriculture and Finance in the House of Ministers. Mr Museveni made a breakthrough with NRM lawmakers, but obstacles were still tough.

On October 24, another attempt to pass the coffee bill failed after dramatic scenes forced Speaker Anita Among to suspend the House of Representatives. Mr Joel Ssegnoni, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP), led the anti-merger team and put up a spirited fight, questioning the procedures and process of handling the bill.

LoP Ssenyonyi and lawmakers from coffee producing regions such as Buganda and Bugisu were able to block the debate. But the events of the meeting deepened the divisions between supporters of the bill on the one hand and the opposition in parliament, the Buganda parliamentary faction and cultural institutions such as the Buganda Kingdom on the other.

Speaker Among was accused of injecting tribal lines into the debate after a clip of her speaking in the House of Representatives went viral. A statement from the House of Representatives categorically denies the insinuations.

After October 24, parties opposing the UCDA merger vowed to use any tactic at their disposal to block the bill. With this, President Museveni moved in quickly, using tactics that some say have been killed by intimidation. These included reaching out to Ugandans and stakeholders through letters sent to his X-pen for three days.

In a letter dated October 26, Mr Museveni accused those opposed to the merger of dividing the problem into tribal tribes. Describing their submissions as dishonest, the president also downplayed the role of UCDA.

“If UCDA and Naads were successful, why were 68 percent of homesteads still outside the cash economy by 2013? OWC (Operation Wealth Creation) has done much more work than Naads, UCDA and CDO (Cotton Development Organisation) put together,” said Mr Museveni.

The next day, on October 27, in a seven-page letter, he accused unnamed “elite parasite groups” of supporting the UCDA. The President also explained the role of quality control and regulation. In addition, he said that this sector will continue to be carried out by a special office in the ministry or government.

Mr Museveni issued a final message “to end the debate on the rationalization of parasitic agencies and authorities” on October 28, saying “to achieve the NRM’s goal of socio-economic transformation, we insist on a mass line as opposed to the parasitic elite line of colonialism and neo-colonialism “.

He added, “It is clear that groups like Naads, UCDA, DDA etc. are unable to understand the mass frontier of prosperity for all. That’s why they failed…”

His message generally indicated that the agency — UCDA — was not effective, but the government was spending far more money there than on Maaif. In the back of his mind, he kept the resolutions of the opposing parties to block the bill. This prompted Mr Museveni to summon his lawmaker again, this time at his Kisozi farm in Gomba district. The November 1 meeting, sources said, was aimed at devising a strategy to counter and tame those opposed to rationalization by any means necessary. Sources say it has been decided that the bill will be passed and those opposed will not be given a chance to derail the process, as was the case on October 24.

“We are going to have a showdown; they are liars and criminals playing with fire,” Mr Museveni said, signaling a showdown.

As Day 6 of November arrived, the roads leading to the Chamber were blocked and swarming with security personnel from the police, military and others in plainclothes.

In the chambers, in a meeting that started at 10am, Mr Museveni also deployed his strongest weapons in the Cabinet, including Vice President Jessica Alupo, who usually attends separate or special meetings. Prime Minister Robina Nabbanja was also present.

As soon as the meeting started, deputies led by LP Senyon expressed concern about the draft law. Soon the House will turn into chaos. Blows were exchanged. Literally and metaphorically.

Unlike last time when she suspended debate on the bill, Speaker Among was determined to pass the bill. Instead, she decided to suspend some lawmakers who were convicted of misconduct. This happened after the suspension of proceedings in the Chamber. At 1:39 p.m., the bill was passed after opposition members resigned to boycott the meeting. This followed earlier scenes where some of their colleagues were forcibly removed from the chamber during a blackout and media blackout. This left NRM lawmakers in the House of Representatives who voted yes.

Following the passage of the LoP bill, Ssenyonyi accused President Museveni of intimidating NRM members who supported them. The Nakawa West lawmaker also accused Speaker Amonga of dancing to the tune of her party chief instead of following the law.

“General Museveni called a bunch of MPs. We were told, (…) intimidating them. I don’t know what else he has given them,” the LoP whined, adding: “It’s a shame that General Museveni has roughed up Parliament as he wanted.” .. So you see the speaker can’t even reason logically, because if you can’t follow the law, follow the logic.

LoP Ssenyonyi has brought together stakeholders in the coffee sector to continue fighting for their livelihoods. “The war on coffee is not over. Yes, they tried to politicize it… this is an economic problem for our people. So you might think you have numbers on the other side like NRM, but the people of Uganda, the millions of people involved in the coffee value chain, are so much more.”

Take
General Museveni called a group of MPs. they tell us, (…) intimidating them. I don’t know what else he gave them. It is a shame that General Museveni treated parliament roughly as he wished. So you see the speaker can’t even think logically, in my opinion, because if you can’t follow the law, follow logic. But she wasn’t interested in following logic because she had instructions. LOP by Joel Ssegnoni

If UCDA and Naads were successful, why were 68 percent of homesteads outside the cash economy by 2013? OWC (Operation Wealth Creation) has done far more work than Naads, UCDA and CDO (Cotton Development Organization) put together – President Museveni’s letter

After an exhaustive discussion of the keynote speech of His Excellency the President and National Chairman of the NRM, we hereby decree the following: Support the introduction and enactment into law… of all bills on the rationalization of public institutions and public expenditure (Rapex). — Prime Minister Denys Hamson Obua.