What strengthened objections to the proposed Coffee Bill

Uganda’s coffee brands are one of the rarest naturally occurring coffee trees in the world by the International Coffee Organization. 

Our coffee has a name for its special wine like taste, with rich notes of chocolate producing a decent brew and flavor.This year, there has been boom in coffee prices and farmers reaped big, practically smiling in their pockets and improving their welfare. 

Currently, there are high hopes and expectations from the farmers about its prospects in future, more energized with numerous coffee growing promotion programmes in the country and successful stories of Emmwanyi terimba “coffee doesn’t lie” akin to the 1959/1960s and -1991/92 (the mwanyi zaabala era).

Recognizing the importance of coffee in achieving socio-economic development, after the death of cooperatives during the years of instability in the 1970s and 80s, the NRM government established the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) in 1991, to develop a sustainable coffee sector.

Much later, in 2013, it formulated the Coffee Policy and passed the Coffee Act in 2021, albeit controversially.

Now, one wonders why a government which would have capitalized on the success of the booming coffee business, is bent of scoring negatively amongst victorious farmers.

Instead of following the policy with a favourable legal framework that provides supportive services to the coffee farmers, the amendment seeks to dissolve UCDA, the enabler of the sector.

Despite criticism from key stakeholders including Buganda Kingdom, and the public on some of the sections, President Museveni Tibuhaburwa seems determined to push through the amendment. Whereas the President’s views are respected, it’s not entirely true that he is always right.

Farmers are certainly aware of the weaknesses or blind spots of UCDA, but there are also glaring real and apparent fears and risks of dissolving it and get it back into the politically minded Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). This week, the ministry disbanded the fisheries sub-sector unit over corruption allegations. 

MAAIF, even with some top overzealous and loyal NRM cadres manning it, does not have the competences to regulate, promote and oversee the coffee sub-sector, regulate all farm and off farm activities in the coffee value chain and to facilitate the development of a competitive, participatory, and sustainable coffee sub-sector.

Sections 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32 of the Coffee Act 2021 empowers UCDA to license and register coffee farmers, nursery operators, garden operators, farmer organizations, and cooperatives, all coffee value chain actors including buyers, coffee graders, exporters, warehousemen, processors, roasters, shop operators and brewers. 

It is only UCDA to satisfy that the farmer is a proper person to run one and whether the soil type fit for such a purpose, making its work cut-out. Under Section 53, it is an offence if one operates unregistered nursery bed, sells substandard seeds, harvests immature cherries, roasts or harvests non-coffee materials as coffee, or poorly stores coffee. 

In addition, operating a coffee store that does not meet the standards, dealing in internal marketing of coffee without a license is an offence. The fines upon conviction ranges from 2 -7 million shillings or a term of imprisonment from 2-15 years!

Uganda being largely an agricultural economy, the amendment in its widest and strictest sense, will make every farmer or any person who deals in coffee a potential cadre or prisoner.

Speaker Among threw caution in the wind with her alleged statements. This disheartening statement strengthened the objections to the bill- no amount of explanation will outdo it. Parliament will just have to withdraw the Bill.

George Ntambaazi is a farmer and a lawyer