“I will Renew Your Contract” Attorney General To Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye

A few months back the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) started the process of contracting a company to develop a Mobile App that will be used to register coffee farmers across the country.

The revelation was made by Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, the Managing Director at UCDA during a breakfast meeting that was held at Serena Hotel in February to discuss developments to facilitate the coffee export business.  

Now the latest we have is that the Managing Director of  Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)’s is again in hot soup.

A few weeks back, we landed on some documents showing how Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigira pulled out of Uganda’s membership from the International Coffee Organization(ICO).

This comes after his contract expired and frantic efforts to have his contract renewed hit a snag. Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye did the unthinkable when he traveled to Dubai to attend the Dubai EXPO despite being warned against traveling by the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.

According to the Itinerary, Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigirahe is due to fly back to Uganda this Friday.

The Expo 2020 Dubai is a World Expo currently hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1 October 2021 to March 2021 (182 days). President Museveni is in attendance, but that is not the focus of our story today.

A lot of Uganda’s taxpayer’s money is wasted as Uganda is out of ICO

On September 24, 2021, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries Hon. Frank Tumwebaze wrote a letter (ADM7/166/01) addressed to the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka seeking legal interpretation regarding whether it was fine for him to re-appoint Iyamulemye as Managing Director.

In his letter to the AG, Tumwebaze noted that following the enactment of the National Coffee Act 2021, Cabinet was yet to sit to appoint a  Board of Directors for Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).

Apparently, the minister informed the AG that the UCDA Managing Director’s contract was expiring on September 30, 2021, and was seeking legal interpretation if he was right to renew the MDs contract.

In his response, quoting Section 22(1) of the National Coffee Act No. 17 of 2021, the Attorney General said:

“There shall be a Managing Director who shall be appointed by the Board on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.”

The New Coffee Act Section 14 (4) notes that the members of the board shall be appointed by the Minister, except the Managing Director, so in short Hon. Frank Tumwebaze was out of order here as per the letter from the Kiwanuka Kiryowa

“In view of the above provisions of the law, the appointing authority of the Managing Director is the board and not the minister,” wrote the Attorney General.

THE AG said it would be ultra vires for the minister to exercise the function of the board.

“Accordingly, I advise that a board be appointed to enable it to appoint a Managing Director of Uganda Coffee Development Authority,” advised Kiwanuka Kiryowa.