Law
Museveni Signs Sugarcane Amendment Bill Into Law, Urges Unity for Industry Growth
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has signed the Sugarcane (Amendment) Bill, 2023, into law, emphasising the need for cooperation between sugar millers and growers to ensure a sustainable and prosperous sugar industry in Uganda.
“If you don’t want to kill this industry, you should all cooperate,” President Museveni said during the signing ceremony at State House. “If you don’t, the factories will collapse—and once they collapse, even new farmers will have nowhere to sell their cane.”
The Bill, passed by Parliament last month after extensive consultations, addresses long-standing concerns in the sugar sector. It introduces key reforms, including the restructuring of the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council, a revised sugarcane pricing formula, and the creation of a Sugar Development Fund.
The amended law stipulates that the Council will now include four representatives from farmers, three from millers, and permanent secretaries or representatives from the Ministries of Trade, Agriculture, and Finance. A chairperson, to be elected from the stakeholders on a rotational basis, will lead the council for a two-year term. This new structure is designed to prevent monopoly and ensure balanced decision-making.
“Appointing a chairperson on a rotational basis avoids dominance and fosters a spirit of cooperation,” said Trade Minister Hon. Mwebesa Francis, who presented the Bill to the President. “Farmers will now have greater representation, which strengthens inclusivity.”
The Bill also establishes a Sugar Development Fund, to be financed by contributions from millers and outgrowers at a ratio of 70% to 30%. The fund will support council operations and industry development initiatives.
Significantly, millers are now required to share proceeds from both sugar and its by-products, such as ethanol and electricity, with farmers. “The processors indeed get more value from the cane than just sugar,” President Museveni observed. “I think this is a good formula. I can now sign the law.”
However, the President cautioned against encouraging smallholder farmers—those with less than four acres of land—to grow sugarcane. He advised them to stick to the government’s “4-acre model,” which promotes a diversified approach to farming, including coffee, fruits, food crops, dairy, poultry, piggery, and fish farming.
Top government officials, including Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rt Witnessed the signing. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, Third Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Rukia Nakadama, Minister for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda, and leaders from sugarcane-growing regions of Buganda, Busoga, and Bunyoro.
Tayebwa praised the President for guiding Parliament through contentious issues in the Bill. “When we hit a stalemate, you asked us to go back and mediate until we reached consensus,” he noted.
The new law marks a turning point in Uganda’s sugar sector, aiming to resolve tensions between farmers and millers while promoting fair trade, inclusive governance, and sustainable agriculture.
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