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The head pastor of Victory Christian Center Church says he received a phone call from a high-ranking official who complained about an earlier prayer he made in church, condemning the people who are pushing for the rationalisation of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UDCA)
In his prayer, Serwadda had asked God to “rid us of all those that seek to impoverish us.”
“Whatever is to eat them should arrive fast and whatever is to destroy them should come in haste,” he prayed.
Later, after the prayer went viral on social media, Serwadda said a person he did not identify called demanding that he withdraw his comments.
“Someone called me this morning and told me, they heard me on Wednesday making an awful prayer against people who are speaking about Coffee.
“I asked if this person was part of the group or if they were the spokesperson.
“This person told me they expected me to be praying for a blessing. I asked why they expected a blessing from me when they are stealing.
“I said what I said, and there is nothing I can reverse. I went back home and repeated the same prayer.”
Pastor Serwadda, who hails from the Greater Masaka sub-region says he owes his education to coffee.
He feels anybody who seeks to limit its production is an enemy of Uganda.
Similar sentiments have been shared by other leaders including the Katikkiro of Buganda Charles Peter Mayiga who deems the proposed scrapping of UCDA as a “punishment against Baganda, who contribute nearly 50% of coffee exports.”
Museveni adamant
President Yoweri Museveni however came out with a statement on Saturday, defending the rationalisation of 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.”