Ugandans got shocked recently during the coffee bill in parliament when the opposition defended the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) against rationalization. It should be remembered that the same opposition MPs have been complaining of the existence of many useless agencies, waste, and duplication of responsibilities, claiming that all institutions are incompetent.
In a surprising turn of events, the same opposition defended UCDA to the bone marrow to the extent that they had to fight bare knuckles to make sure it was not taken back to its mother ministry.
Reliable sources have now confirmed that the incompetent, corrupt, and wasteful UCDA administration bribed the opposition and Buganda caucus with billions of money to fight for them during the rationalization debate as we saw it happen.
No wonder the same opposition MPs now claimed that UCDA was very competent and responsible for the growth of the coffee industry in Uganda. What a contradiction!
However, many coffee farmers and stakeholder groups have come out to reveal how UCDA suffocated and harassed them without any services delivered. UCDA was just using coffee farmers as conduits to steal money from the government. This new revelation has further exposed Uganda’s opposition as the most corrupt, hypocritical, and deceitful with the aim of serving their faithful interests without considering the people they lead.
For those who closely follow these matters, the opposition legislators well knew they did not have the numbers to fight the rather well-intentioned bill aimed at increasing coffee earnings. They instead played to the gallery by turning violent and fighting fellow legislators, as well as engaging in corridor media engagements without any discussions on the floor of parliament.
With time, Ugandans have come to understand the type of opposition they are dealing with: very useless, corrupt, and sympathy-seeking populists whose aim is to play to the gallery for political capital. For example, would fist fights and moving out of parliament help a common voter well knowing that they have no numbers to overturn anything?
The constant explanations from the president and revelations from coffee farmers have shown that UCDA’s rationalization was long overdue. Henceforth, it will be hard for Ugandans to believe in anything being defended by the opposition. The government should also institute an inquiry into the activities of these opposition leaders as well as UCDA so that these corrupt and incompetent people can be apprehended and have the taxpayer’s money refunded. Shame upon opposition.