Those Fighting Coffee Deal are Agents of Foreign Interests and We are Monitoring Them – Says President Museveni.

President Museveni While Addressing the Country on 1-May-2022 International Labour Day.

President Yoweri Museveni has defended the controversial coffee contract between the Government and the Italian investor that has caused intense debate among members the general public.

While officiating at the International Labour Day celebrations at Kololo Independence Grounds on Sunday, Museveni said those against the deal are “agents of foreign interests.”

“The little war we are having with the coffee issue; that coffee issue is very interesting, and I am very glad people have put in writing their views. You put something in writing, you are finished. If it is wrong, you cannot take it back. They are attacking the coffee deal that it is very bad. We are now going to study you. You have put it in writing, it is in black and white. That is the struggle between the comprador bourgeois, the agents of foreign interests and the national bourgeois,” said Museveni.

On February 10, 2022, the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija on behalf of Government, signed an agreement with Uganda Vinci Coffee Company Limited (UVCC) owned by an Italian investor, Enrica Pinetti to have exclusive rights to buy Uganda’s coffee for processing on top of several incentives and concessions extended to the same coffee company that among others include; allocation of 27 acres of land at the Industrial Park in Namanve, government to construct an access road linking the plant to the main access road, power transmission to the plant at government’s cost and exemption from all kinds of taxes.

The deal caused public outrage, and faced vehement opposition.

The Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry on April 25, 2022 commenced investigations into the controversial agreement.

Chaired by Mbarara City South MP, Mwine Mpaka, the committee interrogated officials from UVCC led by the company secretary, Moses Matovu where they unearthed several irregularities regarding the coffee deal.

During the meeting, MPs on the committee were dismayed to learn how the Italian investor, Enrica Pinetti, the director, UVCC reportedly mortgaged 25 acres of government land in Namanve given to them to secure a loan from a commercial bank in order to set up the coffee processing plant.

Jinja North County Member of Parliament, Hon. David Isabirye told the committee how UVCC reportedly wrote to Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) seeking permission to use the land titles for the said land to acquire a loan. According to Isabirye, the request was hastily granted by UIA in the wee hours of the night.

However, the company secretary Matovu denied the allegations saying that UVCC has neither borrowed any money nor mortgaged the title of the said land in Namanve.

The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka appeared before the parliamentary committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry on April 27, 2022, and told the committee that the contract is legal and binding.

“I checked the company’s legal standing and I was convinced that the company has proper legal standings in Uganda and therefore the contract has no breach of any provisions of the law. So I confirm that I carried out a legal due diligence on the company and I am convinced it is in compliance with the provisions and any of the laws,” Kiwanuka said.

Apparently, the agreement exempts the coffee company from paying all the taxes, including Income Tax, Pay As You Earn, Excise Duty and National Social Security Fund and also seeks to subsidize the company, giving them a special tariff in terms of electricity contrary to the Coffee Act.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, on the issue of scientists getting a better pay than their arts counterparts, the Chairman of the National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU), Usher Wilson Owere, said it is not reasonable for a junior science professional for, instance a teacher, to have higher pay than their supervisor for instance a, Head Teacher, who is of arts profession.

In response, Museveni disagreed with Owere, saying that scientists are harder to find than their arts counterparts.

Museveni gave an example of Soroti Flying School which was about to collapse due to poor pay for pilots.

“Owere was worried about the Arts people; we shall support our arts people, but let us start with scientists because we don’t have enough money to handle both. So, rather than saying we all get stagnant, that is not correct. I will give you an example, there is an institution called Soroti Flying School. That wonderful Institution was about to die because of this policy. So, please this equivalency must stop. Soroti Flying School was about to collapse because of this equivalency, that we are all government workers,” Museveni said.

“We trained our young people as pilots. Once you qualify on a jet engine as a pilot, in the Airline, you will be paid 25 million shillings. Here at Soroti, they were being paid 1 million; they said if you don’t want us, we go to the airline. So, the school was going to die. What sort of wisdom is this? I had to intervene, and say please, these scientists (pilots) happen to have a higher market price than HRM (Human Resource Manager). If I dismiss the HRM of Soroti Flying School, I will get another one tomorrow. But the pilot, if he goes away to the airline, the school will close,” he added.

Museveni advised that the principle of market price should be prioritized.

“In the end, we shall pay all of them well. But if we can’t pay all of them, rather than saying we lose everybody, I don’t think that is the correct way. It is suicidal,” he noted.