Ugandan Government Considers Deploying Armed Forces To Protect Coffee From Thieves – CoffeeTalk

Ugandan President Museveni has expressed concerns about the potential impact of deploying soldiers in villages to protect coffee farmers from thieves. He stated that it is time for his government to act and protect farmers from thieves who deny them a right to benefit from their crops. Museveni’s warning comes days after signing the National Coffee Amendment Act 2024, which activated the dissolution of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), transferring its functions to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (Maaif). The law was passed by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) after chaos marred the plenary, forcing some legislators to quit the House.

Museveni expressed anger towards officials from UCDA, accusing them of being behind the opposition of its dissolution. He also accused officials from OWC of previously boasting about being the driving force behind Uganda’s coffee success whereas not. The NRM liberated research scientists from the tyranny of past regimes and recently started paying them well in the face of fierce opposition by some groups, including the bogus UCDA that were misinforming Ugandans that they were responsible for the success of the coffee effort.

Museveni also mentioned that OWC distributed more coffee seedlings than the corrupt UCDA. When he involved OWC in seed distribution in 2013, Uganda’s production of coffee was 2.7 million bags, but now it is nine million bags due to OWC. He also emphasized the importance of a broader base for family activities, as he believes that a broader focus on coffee will be safer.

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