The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has opposed the government’s quest to rationalize the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) back to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).

According to the FDC Deputy Spokesperson, Walid Lubega, the merger of the UCDA with MAAIF will reduce the former to a mere desk under the Ministry of Agriculture, something that will not favor the interests of the many coffee farmers.

“We are strongly opposed to the unrealistic government’s concerted efforts of rationalizing the Uganda Coffee Development Authority back to the Ministry of Agriculture, which we believe, if it is successfully done, will reduce the efficiency of the authority, something against the interest of the coffee farmers in the country,” Lubega said.

Lubega made the remarks while addressing the media on Monday, October 28, 2024, at the party headquarters in Najjanankumbi.

According to Lubega, MAAIF is crippled enough to efficiently run the UCDA because, on many occasions, it has failed in managing other key sectors such as the fishery industry.

“We in the FDC are concerned about the Ministry of Agriculture’s competence, given its track record of mismanaging key sectors. Specifically, the fishing industry has been plagued by maladministration, prompting the president to assign the UPDF to oversee it. Similarly, the animal husbandry sector has struggled with allegations of embezzlement of funds meant for foot and mouth disease vaccines,” he said.

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He further noted that FDC advocates maintaining UCDA’s autonomy to preserve its expertise and focus on coffee development, explaining that, based on its success story, the government should rather maintain it and fund it more to realize more gains.

However, according to President Museveni’s letter about the rationalization of UCDA, it is fraudulent for UCDA to claim that the big boost in agricultural production is because of its efforts, arguing that since 1991, the year UCDA was formed, by 2013, 68% of the Ugandan homesteads were still outside the money economy, which compelled the government to initiate Operation Wealth Creation.

Last week, Parliament had a heated debate while reading the coffee bill to have UCDA merged with the mother Ministry of Agriculture, where 159 MPs voted in favor of the bill and 77 against it. The intense debate compelled Speaker Annet Anita Among to adjourn the House until further notice.