Members of Parliament on the Agricultural Committee have urged the government to retain the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) amid plans to dissolve it.

This followed a meeting between MPs on the committee and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at State House Entebbe on September 3, 2024. The MPs went to convince the president to retain the coffee authority.

While speaking to the media before their departure,  Abed Bwanika, Member of Parliament for Kimanya-Kabonera constituency under the NUP, noted that the significance of coffee on the national economy is very visible and the authority cannot be merged as it will affect the efforts in the management of coffee.

“The most important loss that we are going to have when we rationalize UCDA is that we are going to lose the markets because UCDA is credited by international bodies. When we rationalize UCDA, we are going to lose these accreditation, which means we are going to lose the market, and coffee will be a disaster after that,” Bwanika noted.

This follows the government’s campaign to complete the rationalization and merger of all agencies in a cost-saving drive and avert duplication of roles within government, ministries, departments, and agencies. However, the removal of the coffee development authority is still under debate.