The merging of government agencies has caused contention between the opposition politicians and the government.
This became glaring during the second reading of the Coffee Amendment Bill 2024 seeking to rationalize Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) into the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.
Subsequently, President Yoweri Museveni has authored a large dossier guiding the debate on the Coffee Amendment Bill 2024. He emphasized the importance of mainstreaming all unproductive government agencies, noting that it would greatly reduce duplication of responsibilities and the high cost of operations.
The president cited the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), which had long been only awarding contracts and dependent on the government. Yet, the Ministry of Works has the same department.
Furthermore, the president noted that government agencies that are making money for the government will be upheld to continue their normal operations.
Museveni also urged some people, especially opposition members of parliament who are tribalizing the debate on the coffee amendment bill, to claim that the government has bad intentions toward coffee farmers.
Buganda MPs recently claimed the move aims at disempowering the farmers financially, but Museveni considers this argument parasitical, noting that the same government they are accusing had expanded the production of coffee from two million bags in 1986 to the current 6.39 million bags.
“Merging government entities will save us from the comedy of bureaucracy of administrative titles that are costly to maintain and parasitic in nature,” Museveni said.
It should also be noted that the European Union absorbs 60%–70% of Uganda’s coffee in the form of exports, which makes it an influential business partner. According to data, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil.
