Parliament has passed into law the National Coffee Amendment Bill 2024 with amendments, approving the abolishing of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), whose functions will now be taken over by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Speaker Anita Annet Among announced that at the time this decision was taken, 305 MPs attended the plenary sitting physically. The sitting was only attended by one side of the government.
The Coffee Bill was passed amid chaos in parliament after Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake was embroiled in a fist with Hon. Anthony Atiku over a seat, resulting in the suspension of 12 members for misconduct.
Based on the video footage cited by this website, the fight started when Hon Francis Zaake, the original occupant of a seat that fellow MP Anthony Okol later took, left to make a submission and upon Zaake’s return, Hon Okol denied him the seat, which led to a scuffle between the two.
Zaake forcefully pushed Hon. Okol out of the seat something that made the latter lose his cool and rained punches on the former to the extent that he had to be wheeled off from the premises and taken to Nsambya hospital for treatment.
In a quick turn of events, the speaker read a list of suspended MPs and adjourned the parliament for 15 minutes before the lights were switched off and SCF stormed the house arresting and ejecting the listed members.
Journalists were also forced out of the chambers and only permitted to return to the house in the afternoon without cameras and the bill was passed.
Speaker Anita Annet Among also vowed not to apologize to the Buganda, until documentary evidence is tabled before Parliament proving that she made discriminatory remarks targeting Baganda, during the heated debate on the National Coffee Amendment Bill, 2024.
Her remarks were in response to earlier concerns raised by Joel Ssenyonyi Leader of Opposition who asked the Speaker to recuse herself from the consideration of the National Coffee Bill, due to the conflict of interest, a request Among declined to honor, saying the rule on Conflict of interest only refers to MPs but not Presiding Officer.
