A petition has been submitted on change.org to tell the Ugandan government that the people do not believe that the UVCC deal is good for the country. If the petition reaches its target of 35,000 votes (it currently has over 31,000), it will be one of the issues with the most votes on change.org, says Namasaba Woniala, who started the campaign.
The president can still withdraw his signature until 05.07.22, which would render the contract ineffective. To support him in his decision-making, we want to start this petition.
Petition · Protect Ugandan coffee producers from the exploitative UVCC monopoly · Change.org
Woniala summarises the industry’s concerns in four points below:
- To purchase coffee qualities and quantities at prices set by UVCC itself. Until these activities are successfully completed, coffee farmers are not allowed to sell coffee to other buyers. To ensure this, other export companies do not receive any documents for export until UVCC’s activities are completed and the company has opened the market to others.
- UVCC is granted tax neutrality until 10 years after completion of the production facilities, e.g. income tax is waived for 10 years, import tax, VAT, but also social security contributions for employees and fees for work permits are waived by the state. In addition, the price of electricity is subsidized by the state and the government commits to providing a constant and permanent supply of electricity; the same applies to water and other infrastructural connections.
- UVCC is given land for 49 years for the projects. Permission to fill the Namanve River, which flows through the site, is also given without any restrictions in the contract, without the consequences for the environment having to be absorbed by UVCC in any way.
- In return, UVCC is to ensure that more value is created in the country by processing the premium coffee into roasted and instant coffee. The development of the market for this, in Europe and other parts of the world, is the responsibility of the company. However, the consequences of the not unlikely failure of the project will be borne by all those involved in the coffee industry in Uganda.
Photo source: Petition · Protect Ugandan coffee producers from the exploitative UVCC monopoly · Change.org