By Max Patrick Ocaido
In a bid to debate the National Coffee Bill, 2018 on an informed ‘taste,’ officials from Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) on Tuesday served free coffee drinks to Members of Parliament who are currently scrutinizing the Bill.
UCDA officials erected a coffee stall inside parliament where they served free coffee to both MPs and parliament staff, attracting long queues.
Minister of Agriculture, Vincent Ssempijja this morning led UCDA officials to the Committee on Agriculture to introduce the National Coffee Bill, 2018 for scrutiny.
During the committee sitting, the MPs were served free coffee drinks to appreciate the taste of the Ugandan coffee.
The beneficiaries of this free coffee drink include; Vicent Woboya (Budadiri East), Robert Migadde (Buvuma Islands), Andrew Koluo (Toroma County), Julius Mukasa Opondo (Bujumba County) among others.
Not even journalists who were covering this committee meeting could miss out on the coffee drink that was served on a chilly Tuesday morning. Agriculture committee chairperson Janet Grace Okori-Moe (Abim Woman MP) told the UCDA officials to pass the same coffee drinks to journalists “so that they report on an informed mind.”
In May this year, government presented the National Coffee Bill, 2018 for its first reading. The Bill seeks to repeal and replace the Uganda Coffee Development Authority Act, Cap.325 that was passed in 1994.
The Bill wants, among other provisions, to reform and provide for the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to regulate, promote and oversee the coffee sub-sector; and to regulate all on-farm and off-farm activities in the coffee value chain, to provide for a coffee auction system and to create and enhance the penalties.
