Coffee bill: The Anglican Church urges calm before prayers for God’s intervention

The Anglican Church of Uganda has called for calm amid the ongoing debate over the controversial National Coffee (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which aims to integrate the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) within the Ministry of Agriculture.

The government emphasizes that this step is aimed at eliminating bloated structures in the country.

But the bill has sparked debate among parts of the public who say the measure would hurt coffee growers financially, putting them on track to lose a lot of money.

Several people opposed to the bill backed by President Museveni argue that UCDA has solely promoted and regulated coffee production in the country and phasing it out would mean losing a credible support system for farmers.

There are also concerns about whether the Ministry of Agriculture will effectively manage the coffee sector.

Now Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu of the Church of Uganda says the Coffee Bill will be one of the things they seek God’s intervention on through three days of prayer for Uganda at the end of November.

“I would like to invite you to the Uganda Martyrs Site-Namugongo from November 20 to 23. It is in times like these when we are challenged by many things such as the coffee law, the marriage law, poverty, domestic violence… nudity among the youth, which is becoming a normal thing,” he noted.

“We call on Christians to come and pray so that we can really get God’s intervention in (these issues),” the archbishop told journalists at the church’s headquarters in Namirembe, Kampala.

However, he declined to elaborate on his position on the specifics of the coffee law, but the Provincial Treasurer of the Church of Uganda, Balaam Muheebwa, said Monitor that the ongoing disputes must be resolved as quickly as possible.

“The ongoing arguments must be dealt with in a mature and peaceful manner. We don’t want to see fighting,” Muheebwa said.

He added: “The ongoing debate is intriguing to some of us. We want money to come in, that land to be protected and for coffee to yield something for the farmers, instead of having it taken away by thieves.”

Parliament postponed debate on the Coffee Act last week amid disputes.

Opposition lawmakers, including the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Joel Ssenyonyi, strongly objected to the bill’s proposals, suggesting instead that UCDA should be empowered to work better rather than to bring it under the Ministry of Agriculture.