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.
The government of Uganda is well conversant that coffee is a critical part of the economy, and its importance is growing with over 1.8 million households growing coffee, which contributes nearly a third of the country's export earnings, paying for critical infrastructure like roads, hospitals, and schools.
In the recent months, UBOS has been under scrutiny by the public, citing significant errors in tribal population data from the 2024 census provisional report, which the Bureau admitted, saying figures for the Bagisu and Bakiga tribes were mistakenly interchanged.
Before the government makes any financial commitment to a company, there must be due diligence done, and it is imperative for the government to prioritize accountability in all public expenditures, particularly in high-stakes commitments such as Dei Biopharma Company.
This is not the first time such an incident is happening in Uganda; in July 2013, over 35 people died and many survived with injuries as they tried to get fuel from a fuel tanker involved in an accident. Many, mainly boda boda raiders,were caught up in the fire and lost their lives.
The major reason SHIPU was created was to ensure effective and sustainable collaboration between government institutions and investors at all levels for collective growth and development.
The State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs, Balaam Barugahara, committed to engaging the government to have all the political prisoners released, and last week, 18 of them, including Olivia Lutaaya, pleaded guilty and are yet to serve a light sentence of four months and then after will be released after spending over four years in prison.