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In a statement last night, Museveni also called out “dishonest” voices bringing tribalism into the debate, dismissing claims that dissolving UCDA would target specific regions.
In his view, Uganda’s agricultural prosperity, particularly with coffee, should be seen as a national asset rather than a regional issue.
“To be condemned, are those who I hear try to bring in the nonsensical tribalism. When Katikkiro Mayiga joined us in promoting coffee, we welcomed him. However, as OWC demonstrated, we were already moving,” said Museveni.
Buganda Prime Minister Mayiga on Friday spoke out in reaction to “anti-Baganda” comments that were attributed to the speaker of Parliament Anita Among during the parliamentary debate.
Mayiga also suggested that the move to dismantle the UCDA was a targeted effort against the Baganda people, who contribute approximately 50% of Uganda’s coffee exports.
“Apparently, scrapping UCDA is a punishment against Baganda, who contribute nearly 50% of coffee exports, since Speaker Anita Among (and those who support scrapping UCDA) see the Amendment Bill as a victory against Baganda! ,” Mayiga stated.
Museveni however, described the Katikkiro’s comments as “sheer dishonesty, trying to bring up tribalism where the NRM is involved.”
“The massive industries the NRM has built, are mainly in Buganda – Namanve, Mukono, Kapeeka, Matugga- Gombe area, Luwero Industries in Nakasongola, Kisozi, etc. These have direct benefit to nearby populations if they are well guided to take advantage of them,” Museveni said.
“Therefore, the negative chauvinists, stop deceiving our People. With the coffee, it is the NRM that revived and expanded its production as it did for all the other products enumerated above.”
Defends rationalisation
Museveni firmly defended the proposed rationalisation of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), asserting that merging UCDA with the Ministry of Agriculture would cut down unnecessary expenses and reduce redundancies.
Referring to the original purpose of these agencies, Museveni argued that many were established when Uganda's economy was weaker, serving specific goals such as agricultural stimulation.
Now, he claims, they have become "parasitic agencies" that “did not fulfil the targets of the NRM Government, especially the third NRM principle of socio-economic transformation”
Museveni questioned the agencies' effectiveness, asking, “If UCDA and NAADS were successful, why were 68% of the homesteads still outside the money economy by 2013?”
To counter UCDA's limitations, Museveni pointed to the achievements of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), which he said “did much more work than NAADS and UCDA combined.”
In a pointed critique of UCDA's role in boosting Uganda’s coffee sector, Museveni stated that recent economic gains were due to efforts beyond the agency's work.
Highlighting his push for value addition in Uganda’s coffee trade, he lamented that Uganda only earns a fraction of the global coffee revenue, saying,
“This USD 900 million is mere peanuts because we are still exporting unprocessed coffee beans… We need a better return for this continuous mining and export of our nutrients.”
He warned of foreign influences potentially resisting these changes, stating, “We are checking whether the anti-rationalization crusaders may not be on the payroll of some external forces, apart from the other confusions on their part”