By Felix Oketcho
President Yoweri Museveni has signed the Sugarcane (Amendment) Bill, 2023, into law, calling for cooperation between sugar millers and growers for a prosperous industry growth.
The Sugarcane (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by parliament last month, after additional consultations involving farmers, millers, and Members of Parliament from sugarcane-growing areas of Buganda, Busoga, Bunyoro, and Acholi on contentious issues that include the composition of the council, the sugarcane pricing formula, and the funding of council activities.
Before the signing, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, Hon. Mwebesa Francis, informed President Museveni that the Bill provides for self-regulation of the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council as provided in the Sugar Act of 2020.
The council will be composed of the chairperson and four representatives of farmers, three representatives of millers, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry responsible for trade, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry responsible for Agriculture or his or her representative, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry responsible for Finance or his or her representative.
A sugar development fund with contributions from millers and outgrowers in the ratio of 70% to 30% will also be established to fund the council activities.
He urged sugar millers not to lure poor people, especially those with less than four acres of land, into sugarcane growing, saying that they should stick to the seven activities under the 4-acre model.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, thanked President Museveni for the guidance on the Bill.
“When you presented this bill to Parliament through your minister, we risked in between, and we had issues of contention. And when I called you, you said that you don’t proceed with the bill until you reach consensus, so we had to go back and start on the mediations,” Dr. Hon. Tayebwa said.