The President of the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party, Joseph Kabuleta, has rejected the proposed merger of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).

While addressing the media on November 4, 2024, at NEED party headquarters in Mengo, Kabuleta alleged that President Museveni has repeatedly used the same tactic while nearing general elections to ease his process of buying votes comfortably.

“This is done toward elections because he knows that villagers will be rich enough to refuse his handouts in exchange for votes,” he said.

According to Kabuleta, the president wants to create a position of middlemen in the coffee sector to transact and earn coffee money on behalf of the farmers, adding that the aim for the merger is to impoverish the coffee growers ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

“Museveni has made people poor because he thinks rich people can’t be easily governed. He is seeking to inaugurate the position of middleman who will take a lion’s share of the coffee sales. For 30 years, Museveni has made sure that the peasants remain poor because he knows that they are the ones who have kept him in power,” Kabuleta said.

He added that Museveni killed the fishing industry, which was employing over 80,000 fishermen.

Kabuleta criticized President Museveni’s policy, which he claimed puts all fishing sites in the hands of the army and protects the Chinese, who have allegedly taken the position of middlemen.

“Uganda is the only country I know where the army beats the citizens for doing legit economic activity like fishing. Busoga exporters of fish have been stopped by the military,” Kabuleta said.

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However, Museveni has since stated that the purpose of the merger is to reduce government expenditure on the less profitable agencies and ministries to focus on the important sectors such as health care and education, among others, to ensure social and economic development.

UCDA was established in 1991 under the Uganda Coffee Development Authority Act, Cap. 325, which was repealed and replaced by the National Coffee Act No. 17 of 2021. The authority’s mandate includes regulating activities within the coffee value chain, promoting coffee quality, supporting research and development, and optimizing earnings for stakeholders in the sector.