The Democratic Party (DP) has blamed Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), for tactfully helping the Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among, pass the controversial Coffee Amendment Bill that saw Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) merge with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) last week.
According to Ismail Kirya, the Democratic Party Spokesperson, the LOP intentionally led most of the opposition Members of Parliament to walk out of the parliamentary chambers, something that gave Speaker Among fertile ground to pass the coffee bill without any interference.
“The LOP led the opposition MPs to walk out in parliament following the suspensions of some MPs.The bills were passed without any interference from most opposition MPs because of the boycott. As the Democratic Party, we are disappointed with the conduct of the MPs, which just made us lose honorably without any scratch on the government,” he said.
Kirya made the remarks while addressing the press conference on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at Democratic Party headquarters along Balintuma Road in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
He added that unless Ssenyonyi informs the country what the coffee growers benefited from his boycott, they will not stop thinking it was a planned move to give the government space to pass the bill in the absence of the opposition MPs.
“As the Democratic Party, we request Ssenyonyi to be always calculative in some matters; let’s avoid doing some things to be seen by the public but engage in things where the public can benefit. If you compare the scuffle in the age limit amendment and this coffee bill, you may realize the difference between the current leader of the opposition and the previous ones,” Kirya said.
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However, Ssenyonyi said that the coffee battle is far from over because it’s not for the opposition MPs only but also for the 12 million Ugandans who are involved in the coffee value chain.
“They might think they won the battle with the way they set it up, chased media, switched off lights and brutality, but it’s not over with the people,” Ssenyonyi said.
On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, parliament passed the Coffee Amendment Bill, which caused chaos in parliament after Francis Zaake (NUP) and Anthony Akol (FDC) exchanged blows over a chair.
