Ugandan members of parliament have passed the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill 2024 into law, paving the way for the dissolution of the country's coffee regulator, and its functions transferred to the agriculture ministry.
Lawmakers passed the bill on Wednesday in a parliamentary session that saw 12 members suspended over what Speaker Anita Among termed "misconduct" following a scuffle that led to the temporary adjournment of sittings earlier in the day.
Speaker Among said at least 305 legislators attended the parliamentary session on Wednesday.
According to Uganda's Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze, the move to absorb all functions of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) will "relieve the government of the financial drain on its resources."
'Burden of wasteful administration'
The minister added there was a "burden of wasteful administration and expenditure on the UCDA yet the agriculture ministry may perform the functions with less cost."
Opposition lawmakers and those from Buganda, a major coffee growing community, opposed the bill, saying the takeover of UCDA's functions by the agriculture ministry would affect coffee production and exports.
Opponents of the bill said UCDA, which has existed for more than 30 years, has played a major role in stabilising Uganda's coffee sector through effective quality control and pricing policies.
Today, Uganda is Africa's second-largest coffee exporter, behind Ethiopia.
Sector employs millions
In 2022, Uganda earned about $813 million from coffee exports, while Ethiopia earned $1.5 billion.
The other top coffee producers in Africa are Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burundi.
The coffee sector employs about 5 million people in Uganda, with over 1.8 million households growing the crop.
People who — directly or indirectly — benefit from the coffee industry in Uganda are approximately 12 million, a figure suggesting how important coffee is to the country of over 45 million people.
Gradual wind up
Recently, Uganda's State Minister for Agriculture Bright Rwamirama told parliament that the winding up of UCDA would be gradually done across three years to avoid disrupting the coffee sector.
UCDA's functions include coffee quality control, certifying all coffee exports, advising government on coffee pricing, promoting Uganda's coffee internationally, supervising the coffee industry, and formulating sector policies.
In Uganda's 2023/2024 financial year, UCDA was allocated a budget of almost 65 billion Ugandan shillings, an equivalent of nearly $18 million.
Now, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has 30 days to assent to the coffee bill, return it to parliament for reconsideration, or refuse to sign it.
And if he refuses to act on the bill within 30 days, it becomes law upon the expiry of that period.
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