The Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) has called on Ugandans to actively defend key parastatals, which have been either dismantled or are now threatened with mergers into various line ministries.
This appeal stems from the party’s concern about the direction of the country’s economy amidst the government’s ongoing moves to integrate its agencies and authorities with their respective parent ministries. Notably, the proposed merger of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has heightened public anxiety.
Speaking at Uganda House in Kampala, UPC spokesperson Sharon Arach Oyat emphasized that parastatals such as the Uganda Cotton Development Authority, the Dairy Development Authority, and the UCDA are critical to Uganda’s economic growth.
However, she asserted that policies enacted by the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) government have caused setbacks, such as the decline of the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and the sale of its industrial assets.
Arach noted that Uganda’s shift towards a liberalized economy has not progressed smoothly. She reminded listeners that when the NRA/M government came to power in 1986, it was guided by its celebrated 10-Point Programme, particularly Point No. 5, which focused on “Building an Independent, Integrated, Self-sustaining National Economy.”
However, she argued that this economic vision has not been realized, as liberalization moved Uganda further from self-sufficiency.
Arach also highlighted the role of marketing boards, once central to the processing and marketing of agricultural produce. She pointed out that the Lint Marketing Board (LMB), established under Ordinance No. 16 of 1949, was later replaced by the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO). Similarly, the Coffee Marketing Board (CMB), established under the Coffee Act of 1963, was replaced by the UCDA, which now faces potential dissolution as part of the government’s restructuring efforts.
“The public should remember that it was under Dr. Apolo Milton Obote and the UPC II Government from 1980 to 1985 that Uganda first cautiously opened its economy. During this time, investors were free to operate alongside public corporations in a mixed economic model,” Arach stated.
UPC’s head of media and communications, Faizo Muzeyi, echoed these concerns, stressing that the party is deeply troubled by the current economic path Uganda is following. Muzeyi recalled that the UDC, originally established by the British Colonial Government in 1952 and later expanded by post-independence governments to promote industrialization, suffered greatly under the NRA/M government, which ultimately sold off the corporation’s assets and industries.
Comments are closed.