Okoro County

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I stand before you to pay tribute to a great General and servant of the people of West Nile. A lot has been said about what the great General has done for us, as the people of West Nile, but one of the things we do appreciate him for is that he always made sure that West Nile got its fair share of the national cake. Through that, we have managed to get electricity, roads, and the famous Laropi Bridge funding - which is going to start - a bridge championed by the great General who is lying before us. As new Members of this Parliament, some of us who are in the second term came towards the last years of the great General, but nevertheless, he always got time to call us into his office and continued guiding us on some of the projects and issues to raise. One of the issues was the road between Nebbi to Goli and all the way to Vurra. Now that we managed to pass a loan of $20 million for that road, we urge the Ministry of Works and Transport to fulfil that pledge and make sure that that road from Nebbi, Goli to Zombo is tarmacked. I thank you all and welcome you to West Nile tomorrow for the burial of the General.

That sounds good. Honourable members, in the VIP gallery this afternoon, we have the Rt Rev. Constantine Rupiny, Bishop of Nebbi Catholic Diocese. (Applause) He is the main celebrant at today’s Feast of St Thomas More. He is accompanied by a delegation of the following: 1. Fr Ponsian Kaweesa, Chaplain of the Parliamentary Catholic Chaplaincy here; 2. Fr Camillus Chandini; 3. Fr Norbert Azale; 4. Fr Charles Lwanga; 5. Fr Joseph Musoke; 6. Fr Deo Ssengendo; 7. Fr Stephen Oribdhogu, the Chancellor Nebbi Diocese; 8. Fr John Mary Muzei Kibirige; and 9. Sr Alice Jacan. Please join me in welcoming them and make them feel welcome. (Applause) The leaders of the four districts, namely Nebbi, Zombo, Pakwach and Madi-Okollo, please stand up for recognition so they can see your faces. The elder, Hon. Catherine Akumu Mavenjina, Hon. Jane Pacuto, Hon. Emmanuel Ongiertho, Hon. Martin Drito, Hon. Topista Achamfua, Hon. Marshall Alenyo, Hon. Isaac Otimgiw, Hon. Gabriel Okumu, Minister Phiona Nyamu-something (Nyamutoro) - (Laughter) - Hon. Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, Hon. Joan Aniku and Hon. Ali Ogama Hon. Joseph Ssewungu is a member of the Catholic - he was an altar boy who wanted to be a priest but - on this note, Rt Rev. Constantine Rupiny is the first Catholic bishop to come to this new term of Parliament -(Applause)- and I was blessed - this morning at 10:00 a.m., he came, prayed for me and blessed me. I am very blessed now. (Laughter) Honourable members, we shall have to release the Members from Greater Nebbi; the four districts, when time comes, and - let us process this. Hon. Annet Pamela Kirungi, the MP for Kabarole - is she here? Can you raise your issue in one minute?

Thank you very much. Mr Speaker, I also rise to thank the President for the State-of-the- Nation Address. Two areas from the address caught my attention, and my comments will be based on that. Number one, I would also like to thank the Government for the income-generation initiatives, particularly aiming at improving household incomes. But every time such initiatives come up, I feel there is one group of people that is left out. In all our villages, we have village savings and loans associations. When those initiatives come up, they do not target them. I am asking, if possible, particularly the ministry responsible for cooperatives, they can look at the possibility of working with these savings groups in the villages to support the individual households. That is one area. The second is the area of human capital development and specifically for the health sector. Nebbi Municipality, where I come from, houses the hospital of Nebbi. That hospital has become a referral hospital for Zombo, Nebbi, Pakwach and Madi-Okollo districts, leaving the municipality with three divisions without any health facility. When you go to the district hospital, you find their focus is mainly on the people who have been referred there from distant places, leaving out the local population. Mr Speaker, one thing that amazed me was: I discovered that some years back, 15 staff members were recruited to start one health centre III in one of the divisions. Unfortunately, because there was no construction, the health workers, some of whom were absorbed into the district, and five of them have remained unabsorbed. They are there; they continue to draw salaries from the Government, but after a certain period, they were stopped. Some of them are now thinking of taking the Government to court, which to me is unfair – (Member timed out.)

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I stand to support the motion and express my gratitude to His Excellency the President for his concise and clear State- of- the-Nation Address, which is working instantly. When he said, “no more sleep,” I think everyone is now awake. Even in my village, they are calling ministers to go and see their school and water projects. When he said, “no corruption,” the country is on fire; everybody is active. When he talked of middle-income status, this has given hope. People now feel that we can actually reach middle-income status through the Parish Development Model (PDM). However, Mr Speaker, on this PDM, I would like us to help this country. In my county, Ora County in Zombo District, there are parishes with 2,500 households but the parishes with 500 households are beginning another cycle of five years for the distribution of PDM. The one of 2,500 households needs 15 years at this rate.

I would like to appeal to you and the Ministry of Local Government to please carry out research. We cannot make one parish wait for 15 years to round all the households, yet one parish is only taking five years. Anyway, how long is this PDM programme? Is it a forever programme or is it time-bound? I think we should begin to think specific. In this, we need fairness and objectivity. My second point is that if we are going to reach the middle-income status, Zombo is the only district which has not been connected to another district through a tarmac road. The President campaigned and said, “By April, you will have a contract and the road will commence.” I think it is the technical people who deceive the President. April passed, but there is no contract or commencement. I am putting the minister on notice that I am bringing leaders from Zombo district to his office so – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker and congratulations. On 11 October 2025, the President came for a campaign in Zombo District. During the rally, he confirmed to the people of Zombo that work on Goli-Paidha-Zombo-Warr-Vurra Road would commence in April this year. He said that the same contractor that would do work on Nebbi-Goli Road would continue to Zombo. Has the contract been signed? If not, how long do we have to wait as the people of Zombo District? Thank you.

7. Nankwanga Stellamaris Woman Representative Bugweri Independent 8. Nanzala Metrine Namisindwa County Namisindwa NRM 9. Nassolo Eugenia Rubaga Division South Kampala NUP 10. Nawe Molly Kamukama Woman Representative Kazo NRM 11. Ndeezi Alex PWD Representative N/A NRM 12. Ngabirano Charles Rwampara East County Rwampara Independent 13. Ninsiima Evelyne Woman Representative Rubanda Independent 14. Nnamara Annet Oyes Byamukama Woman Representative Buhweju NRM 15. Nyakato Asinansi City Woman Representative Hoima City PFF 16. Namujju Cissy Dionizia Woman Representative Lwengo NRM 17. Nyakato Dorothy Woman Representative Kitagwenda NRM 18. Namutaawe Joan Woman Representative Masaka NUP 19. Nayebale Sylivia Woman Representative Gomba NRM 20. Naziiwa Margret Woman Representative Kagadi NRM 21. Nkunyingi Muwada Kyadondo County East Wakiso NUP 22. Nuria Hafsa Teko Woman Representative Kotido Independent 23. Nangoli Gerald Elgon North County Bulambuli NRM 24. Nyeko Johnson Kezekiya Lamwo County Lamwo NRM 25. Obong Peter Acuda Maruzi County Apac UPC 26. Obong Vincent Shedrick Lira West Division Lira City UPC 27. Okiding Sam (Lt Gen.) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 28. Ofwono Opondo P’Odel Older Person’s Representative Eastern NRM 29. Ocen Geoffery Kioga North County Amolatar UPC 30. 3Ogwal Joseph Jones Dokolo North County Dokolo NRM 31. Ojara Martin Mapenduzi Bardege-Layibi Division Gulu City NRM 32. Nameere Justine Woman Representative Masaka City NRM 33. Nkrumah Roland Bufumbira County East Kisoro NRM 34. 3Ojiit Peter Pingire County Serere Independent 35. Ntabazi Harriet Bwamba County Bundibugyo NRM 36. Ocan Patrick Apac Municipality Apac Independent 37. Ogwang Patrick Obura Oyam County South Oyam NRM 38. Okaasai Sidronius Opolot Kumi County Kumi NRM 39. Oketcho George West Budama County South Tororo NRM 40. Oketcho John Francis Bugiri Municipality Bugiri NRM 41. Okeyoh Peter Bukooli Island County Namayingo NRM 42. Okot Peter Tochi County Omoro DP 43. Okumu Gabriel Okoro County Zombo NRM 44. Omara Paul Otuke County Otuke NRM 45. Omoding Emmanuel Serere County Serere NRM 46. Onek Hilary Obaloker Palabek County Lamwo NRM 47. Oneka Lit Amere Denis Kitgum Municipality Kitgum FDC 48. Ongom Patrick Erute County North Lira NRM 49. Ongu James Kwania North County Kwania NRM 50. Opito Vincent Dokolo South County Dokolo UPC 51. Nankabirwa Ann Maria Woman Representative Kyankwanzi NRM 52. Nantongo Fortunate Rose Woman Representative Kyotera NUP 53. Natumanya Flora Woman Representative Kikuube NRM 54. Naturinda Eliab Ndorwa County West Kabale NRM 55. Ngompek Linos Kibanda North County Kiryandongo NRM 56. Ninkusiima John Paul (Dr) Ibanda County South Ibanda NRM 57. Niringiyimana James R. Kaberuka Kinkizi County West Kanungu NRM

8 ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS 5. Kansiime Annah Woman Representative Rwampara NRM 6. Kanyesigye Mercy Youth Representative Female Independent 7. Kapyagon Brian Kongasis County Bukwo Independent 8. Karim Musa Aringa North County Yumbe Independent 9. Kasajja George Patrick Bulamogi North West County Kaliro NRM 10. Kasigwa Gerald Bihemaiso Kigorobya County Hoima NRM 11. Kasirye Nganda Ali Makindye East Division Kampala NUP 12. Kasukaali Methuselah Mwenge Central County Kyenjojo NRM 13. Kariisa Johnbosco Koy Buhweju West County Buhweju NRM 14. Katushabe Ruth Woman Representative Bukomansimbi NRM 15. Katusiime Annet Mugisha Woman Representative Bushenyi NRM 16. Kawalya Abubaker Rubaga Division North Kampala NUP 17. Kasaija Matia Buyanja County Kibaale NRM 18. Karuhanga Gerald Kafureeka Ntungamo Municipality Ntungamo Independent 19. Khalayi Peace Woman Representative Namisindwa NRMK 20. Kiirya Grace Paddy Wanzala Butembe County Jinja FDC 21. Kiiza Andrew N. Kaluya Kigulu County South Iganga NUP 22. Katushabe Doreen Birungi Woman Representative Lyantonde NRM 23. Kiyonga C.W.C.B. Bukonzo County West Kasese NRM 24. Muhwezi Jim Katugugu Rujumbura County Rukungiri NRM 25. Kenan Opio Busiro South Wakiso NRM 26. Kateshumbwa Dicksons Sheema Municipality Sheema NRM 27. Katusiime Jovia Woman Representative Kiryandongo NRM 28. Kiiza Kenneth Nyendwoha Bujenje County Masindi NRM 29. Kikabi Edward (Dr) Ntwetwe County Kyankwanzi NRM 30. Kinalwa James (Maj. Gen.) UPDF Representative N/A N/A 31. Kinobere Herbert Tom Kibuku County Kibuku Independent 32. Kinshaba Patience Nkunda Woman Representative Kanungu Independent 33. Kiruluuta Yusuf J. Nkerettanyi Kalungu County East Kalungu NUP 34. Kirumira Hassan Katikamu County South Luweero NUP 35. Kisekka Salim Bukomansimbi North County Bukomansimbi NRM 36. Kitiyo Patrick Kapchorwa Municipality Kapchorwa Independent 37. Kiyimba Emmanuel Bukoto County Mid-West Lwengo NRM 38. Kasule Ismail Hoima West Division Hoima City ANT 39. Khainza Agnes Shiuma Woman Representative Bududa NRM 40. Kugonza Emely Buyanja East County Kibaale NRM 41. Kungu Samuel Bamuteeze Kigulu County North Iganga NRM 42. Kwizera Eddie Wa-Gahungu Bukimbiri County Kisoro Independent 43. Kyambadde Amelia Ann Mawokota County North Mpigi NRM 44. Kyarampe Rebecca Woman Representative Mitooma NRM 45. Kyarikunda Loydah T. Woman Representative Mbarara NRM 46. Kisa Stephen Bakubalwayo Luuka South County Luuka NRM 47. Kavuma Samuel (Lt Gen.) UPDF N/A N/A 48. Kitanywa Sowedi Busongora County North Kasese NRM 49. Kizza Hakim Sawula Bukoto County South Lwengo NUP 50. Kuteesa Patrick Kimanya-Kabonera Division Masaka City NUP 51. Kwiyucwiny Grace Freedom Ora County Zombo NRM 52. Kibaaju Charity Kamuhanda Woman Representative Mbarara City NRM 53. Komol Joseph Miidi Dodoth North County Kaabong NRM 54. Karubanga Jacob Ateenyi Kibanda South County Kiryandongo Independent 55. Mwine Mpaka Rwamirama Mbarara South Division Mbarara City NRM

2 ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS 6. Abeja Susan Jolly District Woman Representative Otuke NRM 7. Abigaba Cuthbert Mirembe Kibale County Kamwenge NRM 8. Acamfua Topista District Woman Representative Zombo Independent 9. Acan Joyce Okeny PWD Representative N/A NRM 10. Achayo Juliet Lodou Ngora County Ngora NRM 11. Achia Lokiru Gabriel Jie County Kotido NRM 12. Achola Catherine District Woman Representative Pallisa NRM 13. Aber Lillian District Woman Representative Kitgum NRM 14. Acom Alobo Joan City Woman Representative Soroti FDC 15. Aayoo Joyce Makamoe District Woman Representative Abim Independent 16. Acon Julius Bua Otuke East County Otuke NRM 17. Adeke Anna Ebaju District Woman Representative Soroti FDC 18. Adidwa Abdu Bukooli South County Namayingo Independent 19. Agaba Gilbert Workers Representative N/A Independent 20. Agaba Peter Ibanda Municipality Ibanda NRM 21. Ahebwa Wilber Manyisa Nakaseke North County Nakaseke NRM 22. Akello Beatrice Akori District Woman Representative Agago NRM 23. Aine Godfrey Kaguta Mawogola North County Ssembabule NRM 24. Akello Lucy District Woman Representative Amuru FDC 25. Akello Rose Lilly District Woman Representative Karenga NRM 26. Akol Anthony Kilak North County Amuru NRM 27. Akorikin Francis Kapelebyong County Kapelebyon NRM 28. Aguti Sarah District Woman Representative Dokolo UPC 29. Akugizibwe Aled Ronald Buruli County Masindi NRM 30. Akumu Catherine Mavenjina Older Persons Representative Northern NRM 31. Alenyo Marshall Godfrey Jonam County Pakwach Independent 32. Alioni Yorke Odria Aringa South County Yumbe NRM 33. Among Anita Annet District Woman Representative Bukedea NRM 34. Magogo Moses Hassim Budiope East County Buyende NRM 35. Opolot Isiagi Patrick Kachumbala County Bukedea NRM 36. Okwere David Beecham Bukedea County Bukedea NRM 37. Namulondo Sarah District Woman Representative Buyende NRM 38. Pedun Josephine District Woman Representative Ngora NRM 39. Aeku Patrick Soroti County Soroti NRM 40. Alyela Denis Omodi Lira East Division Lira City NRM 41. Akifeza Grace Ngabirano District Woman Representative Kisoro NRM 42. Akugizibwe Lawrence Mwenge County North Kyenjojo NRM 43. Amanya Cohen Kyampene Igara County West Bushenyi NRM 44. Achia Cathy District Woman Representative Kaabong NRM 45. Acom Esther District Woman Representative Serere Independent 46. Amaniyo Draville Sheilah District Woman Representative Mukono NUP 47. Aceng Jane Ruth District Woman Representative Lira City NRM 48. Ajilo Maria Gorretti Elogu District Woman Representative Kalaki NRM 49. Adome Francis Lorika Moroto Municipality Moroto NRM 50. Ameede Agnes District Woman Representative Butebo NRM 51. Amongin Jane Frances Okili District Woman Representative Kaberamaido NRM 52. Angura Fredrick Tororo South County Tororo NRM 53. Angwech Colline Kioga County Amolatar UPC 54. Anifa Bangirana Mawogola West County Ssembabule NRM 55. Anyakun Esther Davinia District Woman Representative Nakapiripirit NRM 56. Acheng Sandra District Woman Representative Kole NRM

18647 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2026 Luwero, Nakasongola as well as water supply schemes in districts such as Terego, Moyo, Lamwo, Zombo, Agago, Pader, Namutumba, Mayuge, Ssembabule, Mityana, Isingiro, Kazo, Kyenjojo, Bukedea, Kanungu, Moroto, Kakumiro and Abim, among others. Colleagues, I can see that some of you are trying to keep pace. I jumped into the executive summary, which is on page, Page 3. However, the committee also notes material implementation constraints, particularly funding gaps, delayed counterpart funding, stalled contractor obligations, weak operation and maintenance financing, land acquisition delays, environmental compliance burdens, and institutional capacity limitations, which, if not addressed, will undermine the political credibility of the budget. Madam Speaker, the context of this report is that sectors and Votes under the committee’s purview are central to the Government’s broader economic growth for various reasons. First, energy powers production and industry, while the extractives are expected to create fiscal space and employment. On the other hand, water supports life and production, while environmental management protects the natural resource base on which the growth ultimately depends. The committee notes that the significance of these Votes is not abstract. In many constituencies, the Government is judged by whether power reaches the households, trading centres and industrial parks; whether piped water reaches institutions, towns and villages; whether boreholes and small schemes remain functional; whether the first oil is obtained and is properly regulated; and whether wetlands, forests and the fragile landscapes are actually protected for the benefit of all. This means that the budget scrutiny in these sectors must go beyond the aggregate figures and focus squarely on whether planned projects are financed, implemented, and sustained in actual locations where Ugandans live and work. Madam Speaker, I will go straight to Item 7.0: Programme budget allocations for Financial Year 2026/2027. Analysis of Vote 017 Vote 017: Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development contributes to the sustainable energy development programme and a sustainable extractives industry development programme of the National Development Plan IV (NDPIV), with policy priorities covering electricity generation, transmission, distribution, clean cooking, petroleum infrastructure, minerals development, geothermal development, and strategic industrial energy investments. Madam Speaker, the committee notes, from the updated submissions of the budget estimates, that the total budget allocation for vote 017 rises from Shs 1.844 billion, in the Financial Year 2025/2026, to Shs 2.282 billion, in Financial Year 2026/2027, representing an increase of Shs 438.11 billion. Table two thereby gives you, colleagues , an overview of how these resources have been allocated. The committee further notes that the ministry’s functional allocation reflects a major emphasis on transmission, distribution, petroleum, and administration-related land acquisition and institutional costs, alongside continued support to generation, minerals, and clean cooking. Colleagues, table 4 gives us an allocation of resources by major functional areas. Madam Speaker, the committee notes that the ministry has identified substantial project outlay for Financial Year 2026/2027, and the medium term, and many of these projects are location-specific and visible. Colleagues, the major planned projects under Vote 017 represent the following, which I believe is a point of critical concern to most of us here. There is a project of Mutundwe-Buloba- Kabulasoke-Masaka and Kabulasoke-Nkonge-

18651 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 16 APRIL 2026 intended for Laropi and Lefori in Moyo, Akoro and Pangila, and Padibe West in Lamwo. The institutional water supply and sanitation project This one is intended to supply the Arocha prison in Apac and the Iceme health centre and surrounding areas in Oyam. The rural growth centre schemes in Ewanga in Madi-Okollo, Edrayo in Terego, Rodo and Nyori in Yumbe. The gravity and piped water schemes are intended for Ambe GFS in Zombo, the Ogili water supply and sanitation scheme in Agago, as well as Pader. The solar-powered schemes for Achukudu solar RGC in Napak. Colleagues, I am sure that the Hon Faith Nakut is now going to give me a bit- Table 12, in the Eastern region. There are rural growth centre piped water projects that are intended for Bulange in Namutumba, Nango in Mayuge, Bubugo- Itanda in Jinja, and Kagumba in Kamuli. Additional rural growth centre schemes, one intended for Oyama RGC in Kaberamaido. The institutional water supply and sanitation schemes in Ivukula prisons and the surrounding areas in Namutumba. The public sanitation facilities are intended for Mulatsi S.S. in Mbale and Lubani SSS in Jinja. The urban and small town water system schemes under the Water and Sanitation Development Facility East. In Manafwa, Bulangira, Bukumi, Kaproron, Kadungulu, Iyolwa, Mukura, Atutur and Mbale Industrial Park. Central region The ministry intends to undertake piped water schemes in Nankondo in Ssembabule, Moone in Nakasongola and Bulera in Mityana. The institutional water and sanitation schemes - Masaka Army Barracks. The solar-powered water schemes in Kyegegwa, Rakai, Namayingo and Buvuma districts. Then the other additional schemes and extensions are intended for Ngoma, Nyanseke, Busaale, Lunya, Kapeeka Industrial Park extension and Kikuube. In Western and Southwestern regions The major towns and cluster water systems. In Nyakashaka and Rubaya in Buhweju and Mbarara, Mabira, Bukiro, and Nyabisirira, Ntungamo Industrial Park, among others. The integrated water management and development schemes Kaliro-Namungalwe and Kyegegwa-Mpara- Ruyonza-Kabagore. This is the learned DAGs area. Isingiro water and sanitation scheme That is for the Isingiro District. Institutional water schemes in Butanda Secondary School in Kabale, Rugazi Health Centre IV in Rubirizi, and Ishekye School of the Handicapped in Sheema. The rural growth schemes Kyampangara and Nyamushojwa in Kazo, Kasaba in Kyenjojo, Rwentuha in Kyegegwa and Buhanda in Mubende. The solar-powered scheme Bikone and Isule-Katebenyangorongo in Kasese; Kagunga Iremera 1, Iremera 2 in Kisoro; and the Rubanda extension scheme.

18022 THE E NERGY E F F ICIENCY A ND CONSERV A TION B ILL, 2024 In practice, large consumers who draw more electricity from the grid than they actually utilise, particularly in the form of reactive power, are sanctioned by the regulator to encourage them to install more efficient equipment. The honourable minister is aware. Mr Speaker, if large consumers are already penalised for operating inefficient equipment, it begs the question whether this new law is instead targeting smaller consumers, our wanainchi , the local people. If that is the case, then the Government is simply shifting the burden onto the ordinary Ugandans who are already struggling with high electricity tariffs and unreliable supply and the blackouts after UEDCL took over. 5. The Bill has a direct effect of increasing the cost of doing business in Uganda This Bill has the direct effect of escalating the cost of doing business in Uganda. It introduces new financial and administrative burdens on consumers classified as “designated energy consumers.” Clause 10(2)(a) obliges such consumers to establish an energy management system in a manner to be prescribed by the minister. However, the Bill does not provide a clear definition of who qualifies as a “designated energy consumer.” This omission creates uncertainty and opens room for arbitrary application, potentially exposing even small and struggling businesses to costly compliance requirements. Furthermore, clause 10(2) places an additional obligation on businesses, including the recruitment of a technical officer designated as energy manager. The engagements of licensed energy auditors to carry out periodic audits and the preparation and submission of compliance reports to the minister impose recurring costs on businesses that are already grappling with high operational expenses. Specifically, section 15 also compels every designated energy consumer to submit reports to the minister periodically. For the businesses operating in distant areas, to mention Koboko, Karenga, Zombo or Kisoro, compliance would not only be burdensome, but it would also attract extra logistical and administrative costs. Our proposal, Mr Speaker, is that at a time when businesses are struggling with not just the cost of living but the electricity tariff itself, we invite this honourable House to reject a Bill that seeks to impose additional costs on the businesses of our people. We propose that other business-friendly avenues provided in other legislative laws, like the Climate Change Act and the National Environment Act, be implemented in order to achieve the intended principles in the Bill. 6. As I wind up, Mr Speaker, the Bill will significantly raise the electricity end-user tariff. The end-user electricity tariff is a function of two variables namely; total sector financial requirement and the total expected number of units to be sold or consumed. When more electricity units are sold to customers, given the sector’s financial requirements, the tariff comes down as many more people share the burden of debt service on the dams like Karuma, Isimba, and Bujagali. The Minister of State, the Hon. Okaasai Opolot, informed the honourable committee, while we were processing that Bill at Hotel Africana, that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2024, if passed into law, would have the effect of reducing electricity consumption by up to 380 megawatts by 2030. This is a very unfortunate revelation by the minister because it has the effect of, number one, significantly raising the electricity tariff when everyone is looking for ways of having a lower competitive tariff. Two, it lowers the speed of economic expansion as lower electricity demand is expected to lower economic performance. Lastly, Mr Speaker, is the unfair transitional clause. Mr Speaker, clause 56 provides for

18020 RESOLUTION TO BORROW were traditionally not coffee-growing, but are suitable, such as northern Uganda – Zombo – and some new areas. We are still under consideration. I beg to be given time to give a comprehensive statement on coffee in a week’s time. Thank you.

Mr Speaker, you have ruled very well. I am grateful, and we are looking forward to receiving his response. Our people would like to know. This road does not even cover the entire Nebbi. That means that the whole of Zombo, which I represent, is completely left out. It is very painful for me to stand a million times behind this microphone singing the same song, and the Government that I serve diligently is not listening.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. My sister, Hon. Afoyochan is right. Member after member have stood up to speak about the entire stretch, but we appreciate the effort of the Government to make sure that we have at least Nebbi-Goli Road done. Therefore, as we push to get the entire stretch of the 116 kilometres, it does not mean that we are not ready to accept the 16 kilometres for now. Let us take the 16 kilometres, but continue to push for the entire stretch –(Interruptions)- I am not being selfish. What I am saying is that the entire stretch up to Zombo is a very important road, and we have continued to talk about it because if we totally send this away, it means we have no starting point for the moment.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In some of the new districts, like Kalungu, we have original hospitals under the Catholic Church Foundation or the Church of Uganda. When you visit Villa-Maria Hospital, it has facilities better than health centres IV. One time, I went to Zombo - there is another Catholic hospital there. Madam Speaker, there was a policy which helped these hospitals operate. In Kalungu, where I come from, Villa-Maria Hospital works for Ssembabule, Kiruhura -

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the chairperson of the committee for a very elaborate report. Since the window for operationalisation of cities has opened, I would like to bring in the aspect of our town councils. In Zombo, we have two town councils, which were created but have not been operationalised. These are Padea Town Council and the Warr Town Council. The services or the money they used to get through the subcounties - I mean the support they used to get from the Government, since their creation five years ago, they do not have the resources to run the town councils. Secondly, I would also like to ask the Minister of Local Government, since he has come - the policy of urbanisation is good. In Zombo, we have Paida Town Council. For the last 15 years, it has been requesting and it has been qualifying to be elevated to a municipality. To date, if you see the reports, chronologically they have been qualifying, but up to now -

Madam Speaker, I sit on the Committee on Health, and I remember vividly that the Ministry for Health came and brought that request. Lastly, I am still disappointed that the Nebbi- Zombo Road has not been funded in this budget despite our five years of calling for it. Despite bringing in revenue, it remains the only border custom not tarmacked in Uganda. The Goli and Padea customs have still not been brought on board.

17262 THE HIDESAND SKINS (EXPORT DUTY) (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2025 Margaret, Hon. Acuti, the Member of Parliament for Butaleja, Dr Kamara, Hon. Akello, and the Members of Parliament for Mitooma, Mbarara and Ibanda. The others are: Hon. Jennifer, the Member of Parliament for Maracha, Dr Emily, Hon. Betty, Hon. Atima Lee, Hon. Goli, the Members of Parliament for Bukedea, Alebtong and Zombo, Dr Ayume, Member of Parliament for Ngora, and the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Budget, Hon. Achia and Hon. Leku. Even mama Mavenjina and Hon. Hellen. Speak to your motion.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to bring to the attention of the august House the Nebbi-Goli-Zombo-Vurra Road. The minister is very familiar with it, and it is a huge toxic political road in that region. Currently, DRC is our biggest trading partner. The distance between Nebbi and Goli is only 14 kilometres, but the Government has been promising to work on the 14 kilometres since 1996. I perused this budget, which was read before Parliament this afternoon, but to my dismay, Goli-Nebbi is not featured anywhere. Can the minister, for God’s sake, tell the people of Uganda and the Alur people, where he worked for a very long time and got blessings to be a minister of Works, what he is going to do for them before these coming elections? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to start by reiterating my greatest disappointment that, once again, Nebbi-Goli- Zombo-Vurra Road has missed out on this year’s budget. Mr Speaker, Sir, we are on the verge of losing a lot of votes because of this road, in the upcoming election, yet this is a stronghold of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.

Honourable colleagues, I would like us to be very cautious about that issue. I have given you my example. Sometimes, you judge the west – “the west is having much”. Come to my constituency. Come to Buhweju. In my constituency, I have told you I do not have a single Central Government road. I think, honourable colleagues, have been putting issues here. Let us look at this from a national outlook, but when we start saying, “this area, that area”, some of us will also say, call a caucus of the eastern region and see where Mitooma is. That is not helpful. However, what Hon. Jonathan Ebwalu says is that let us ensure we have equity. For example, I visited the Zombo area – the Gori Road. It is really unfortunate. When we say we are working on a road in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), that road would open us to DRC - that area of the West Nile. You would have opened a huge economic activity if you opened that area.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, I would like to find out from the Minister of Works and Transport: when the Uganda Road Fund was an entity on its own, the Government was not giving them the money that was due to them as Uganda Road Fund. I would like to find out how easy that is going to be now that it is a department within the Ministry of Works and Transport. Secondly, the road that my sister, Hon. Joan, talked about, from Pakwach to Rhino Camp, that road actually starts from Panyimur. Honourable minister, you know about it. It starts from Panyimur, and as we speak, if any heavier rains come, that road is going to be cut off completely. Therefore, honourable minister, you need to look into that. Thirdly, committee chairperson, you mentioned the meter-gauge railway from Gulu to Pakwach as a by-the-way because the initial issue you talked about was that railway line from Tororo to Gulu. Pakwach was now mentioned as a by- the-way. I would like to appeal that the one from Gulu to Pakwach does not become a by- the-way; it should become something that is looked at more seriously. Finally, Mr Speaker, I said it here one time that we are in an election period - for the Nebbi subregion - from Pakwach up to Zombo - that road, even if repeatedly, we are going to talk about it; the one from Nebbi to Goli and Zombo, and whatever. That road for us in the Nebbi subregion – (Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would also like to thank the committee for a good report and for mentioning Nebbi in regard to refugees. Also relating to the fact that you are suggesting that there should be some kind of policy to guide how people coming from outside are supported in the health service - Mr Speaker, when you mention Nebbi, I would like to take you to greater Nebbi, which covers Pakwach, Nebbi and Zombo. You know that we border Congo, and on the other side of Congo, we have the same Alur people. I would like to tell you that

17024 APPROVAL OF BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2025/2026 in some cases, they also have national IDs for Uganda. That means that the policy needs to be crafted carefully to make sure that such people are taken care of. To us, our people from Congo are like brothers and sisters, and that is why nobody talks about Nebbi in terms of refugees yet they are there, and because they come in as brothers and sisters, we do not look at them as foreigners. Secondly, Mr Speaker, Nebbi General Hospital is the hospital that is taking care of all referrals from Zombo to Pakwach to greater Nebbi. Unfortunately, that has squeezed out the population within Nebbi Municipality because the main focus is on persons referred from Zombo, Pakwach or the other parts of Nebbi, leaving out the people within Nebbi Municipality. I urge our ministry to look at Nebbi Municipality because we have Thatha Division, Abindu Division, and actually, they even have land for health centre IIIs. If that can also be looked at, we will be very happy so that we know that within Nebbi Municipality, where our regional referral hospital is, the ordinary people within the municipality are taken care of. Thank you very much.

16835 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 9 APRIL 2025 On the overall performance of the budget under the UPF, we recommend reallocating funds from the assistance to Uganda Police Force projects to critical UPF areas. Uganda Police Force must create a comprehensive successor project for nationwide investments. The second recommendation is that the Uganda Police Force should expedite the preparation and approval processes of the CCTV Phase III Project to ensure its inclusion in the national plan budget. We reviewed the traffic and road safety and, therefore, recommend as follows: 1. An additional Shs 7.577 billion for transport equipment be provided; 2. Shs 1 billion for an IOV inspection lane and certification centre to be provided; 3. Shs 18 billion for 10 mobile inspection stations for IOV to be provided; 4. Uganda Police Force should link the EPS to the NIRA database; and 5. Uganda’s driver licensing system should be adjusted to capture details of foreigners who commit traffic offences. On police accommodation and the ongoing construction projects, we note that 74 per cent of the police officers lack institutional accommodation. However, the Uganda Police Force is working on a police accommodation project. This project is excluded from PIP. The Ministry of Internal Affairs plans to build 69,000 housing units for the Uganda Police Force and Uganda Prisons Service, and the DCIC, through a PPP arrangement. We, therefore, recommend that the Uganda Police Force accelerates the completion of the accommodation project to comprehensively address police accommodation challenges in the year 2025/2026. On the subcounty policing model – this is a flagship security solution to the country, initiated by His Excellency, the President, and it is now under implementation. The model aims to use limited resources in subcounties to improve policing services for communities, including establishing a police station in each area, following: 1. Deployment of a minimum of 18 personnel; 2. Two motorcycles per police station; 3. A counter phone and radio communication; 4. An office; and 5. Staff accommodation for at least 18 personnel. The Uganda Police Force has tested this model in Greater Masaka in the Financial Year 2023/2024, establishing 892, which is 41 per cent of the 2,190 subcounties, nationwide. In the Financial Year 2025/2026, Shs 5 billion is allocated for the construction of 30 model police stations and completing 11 in greater Masaka, along with acquiring 333 motorcycles and communication equipment. However, there is a funding gap of Shs 557 billion. We, therefore, recommend that Shs 587 billion be provided for the nationwide rollout of the subcounty policing model. On crime management, we recommend that Shs 17 billion be provided for CIID investigations and Shs 2.3 billion for crime intelligence in the Financial Year 2025/2026. On the Canine Unit, we see that expanding the Canine units to 36 locations of Budaka, Bukomansimbi, Butambala, Zombo, Adjumani, Madi-Okollo, Pakwach, Vurra, Kaberamaido, Koboko, Terego, Maracha, Moyo, Ayivuni, Buyende, Kaliro, Namutumba, Ngora, Hima, Namisindwa, Kwania, Agago, Nwoya, Amuru, Kyankwanzi, Apac, Kole, aerodromes and border points of Jinja, Soroti, Arua, Mbarara, Kisoro, Mpondwe, Katuna and Mirama Hills nationwide, requires an additional Shs 2.259 billion. The unit faces challenges with unreliable transport for sniffer dogs to crime scenes. Reliable transport is needed at the district stations, requiring Shs 28.44 billion for equipment in 29 regions.

Thank you, Hon. Linda. Is the motion seconded? Okay, it is seconded by honourable - let me start with the men, Hon. Odur, Hon. Nambeshe, Hon. Ssewungu, Hon. Jonathan, Dr Baryomunsi, honourable for Tourism, Hon. Wilfred, Hon. Nyeko, Hon. Allan, Hon. Mwijukye, Hon. Allan Ssewanyana, Dr Abed, Hon. Okello, Hon. Gerald, Hon. Emmanuel, Hon. Okot, Hon. Margaret, Hon. Connie, Hon. Apea, Hon. Paska, the honourable member for workers, the honourable member for Dokolo, Hon. Santa, Hon. Akello, Hon. Lawrence from Zombo and the honourable member for Alebtong. It is also seconded by , Hon. Lillian, Hon. Patrick, Hon. Baba, Hon. Ochwa, the honourable member for Lyantonde, the whole of Arua, “Matchbox”, and Hon. Atima, honourable minister Ssenga , Hon. Victoria, Hon. Mamawi, Hon. Wokorach, Hon. David, Hon. Jane, Hon. Patience, Hon. Akumu, Hon. Mpindi, Hon. Jessica, Hon. Jennifer, Hon. Catherine, Hon. Noelina, my uncle from Bugisu, Hon. Ethel, Hon. Rita, Hon. Okot Ogong, Hon. Gen. Elwelu, Hon. Kamukama and the whole House. Do you want to speak to your motion?

Is the motion seconded? Okay, it is seconded by Hon. Ogwang, Hon. Wilson, Hon. Biraaro, Hon. Jane, Hon. Patience, Hon. Adriko, Hon. James, Hon. Macho, Hon. Gerald, Hon. Akello, Hon. Emmanuel, Hon. Apea, Hon. Twaha, Hon. Basalirwa, Dr Baryomunsi, Hon. Bahati, Member from Sheema, Hon. Pascal, Hon. Elwelu, Hon. Afoyochan, Hon. Okot-Ogong, Hon. Rita, Member from Zombo, Member from Alebtong, Hon. Lillian, Hon. Amos, Hon. Stephen, Dr Keefa, Hon. Enos, Hon. Baba, Hon. Max, Hon. Atima, Hon. Mourine “Matchbox”, Hon. Isamat, Hon. Joel, Hon. Mutiwa, Hon. David, Hon. Akifeza, Hon. Annet Mugisha, Chairperson of innovation, Hon. Catheline, Member for Kaliro, Hon. Noeline, Member for the elders and Hon. Kamukama. Speak to your motion.

16787 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2025 50. Vote 871: Kotido District – Shs 503,436,072; 51. Vote 872: Kumi District – Shs 202,740,000; 52. Vote 879: Lamwo District – Shs 47,114,000; 53. Vote 880: Lira District – Shs 23,760,000; 54. Vote 881: Luuka District – Shs 56,760,000; 55. Vote 884: Lyantonde District – Shs 6,720,000; 56. Vote 885: Madi-Okollo District – Shs 44,695,393; 57. Vote 886: Manafwa District – Shs 251,040,000; 58. Vote 887: Maracha District – Shs 103,800,000; 59. Vote 892: Mbarara District – Shs 18,195,000; 60. Vote 896: Moyo District – Shs 11,070,000; 61. Vote 900: Nabilatuk District – Shs 36,240,000; 62. Vote 902: Nakaseke District – Shs 27,735,600; 63. Vote 904: Namayingo District – Shs 6,580,000; 64. Vote 906: Namutumba District – Shs 472,752,800; 65. Vote 907: Napak District – Shs 186,300,000; 66. Vote 910: Ntoroko District – Shs 23,400,000; 67. Vote 911: Ntungamo District – Shs 17,160,000; 68. Vote 912: Nwoya District – Shs 259,740,012; 69. Vote 914: Omoro District – Shs 92,920,000; 70. Vote 917: Pader District – Shs 356,782,000; 71. Vote 919: Pallisa District – Shs 114,335,970; 72. Vote 923: Rukiga District – Shs 51,000,000; 73. Vote 924: Rukungiri District – Shs 6,298,000; 74. Vote 925: Rwampara District – Shs 26,694,209; 75. Vote 928: Sironko District – Shs 60,000,000; 76. Vote 929: Soroti District – Shs 56,881,000; 77. Vote 932: Tororo District – Shs 3,035,429,737; 78. Vote 935: Zombo District – Shs 153,577,688; and Sub-total for local government – Shs 15,985,336,921.

Mr Speaker, I got a written question from: 1.Hon. Afidra Olema Ronald (MP, Lower Madi County) “Rt Hon. Prime Minister, aware that RAPEX affected the different agencies including UNRA Ferry Services, Rhino Camp to Amuru Ferry was to be commissioned on 3lst December 2024 by UNRA and a new ferry was supposed to be provided by Government. Prayer 1 When will the Commission and provision of ferry services be done to enhance water transport for the people of West Nile and Amuru on River Nile?” Response Mr Speaker, progress of Phase 1 of the vessel assembly is currently at (85) per cent, pending the installation of the engine’s Civil Component. Similarly, progress of construction of ferry landing sites at Rhino camp (Yikuriku) in Madi Oko1lo and Amoor in Amuru district is at 72 per cent and operations will commence very soon. Prayer II “Last year on 1l to 13 Aprll 2024 during H.E. the President’s tour of West Nile, he directed to consider Security/ Tourism Road from Panyimur-Pakwach- Rhino-Camp Obongi and Difule to be upgraded to tarmac. Works on Kia-Kai and Aringa bridges, Olionga to Ewanga swamps and Achaa Swamp have all stalled. When will these projects be upgraded, as directed by His Excellency the President?” Mr Speaker, upgrading of the Panyimur- Pakwach-Rhino Camp-Difule Road (200km) has been considered in the NDP IV and will be worked on soon. The second question came from Hon. Lawrence Songa, Ora County, Zombo District. His prayers are: i. “Does the Government have any plan to build a district hospital in the border district of Zombo and what is the progress? ii. In the meantime, as we wait for the district hospital, can the Government provide full financial, personnel and infrastructural support to the Holy Family Missionary Hospital of Nyapea? iii. Why can’t the Government make Nebbi General Hospital a regional referral hospital to serve the greater Nebbi?” Mr Speaker, I wish to respond as follows: i. On the progress of a new hospital construction, the Government has recognised the need for a district hospital

16664 MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION [Ms Nabbanja] PRIME MINISTER’S TIME in this region. Feasibility studies and site assessments are being conducted and plans are underway to secure funding and commence construction in the Financial Year 2025/2026. ii. On the support of Holy Family Missionary Hospital, given the critical role of the Holy Family Hospital in Nyapea in providing health care services to the people of Zombo District and neighbouring areas, the Government acknowledges the urgent need for infrastructure improvements. In 2019, assessments condemned key facilities, including the outpatient department and maternity ward. The Ministry of Health is exploring interim support measures such as the feasibility of allocating funds for renovations and deploying medical personnel to bolster the hospital’s capacity while plans for a new hospital are being finalised. Hon. Gafabusa Muhumuza, Bwamba County, Bundibugyo says, “The Bundibugyo General Hospital is in a very bad state in terms of physical infrastructure, obsolete medical equipment and gross inadequate medical personnel. The district leadership, including Members of Parliament, has raised this matter several times to the Government, but there has not been a satisfactory response. The X-ray machine stopped working last year and their people are suffering as they are referred to Fort Portal. His prayers are: i. When is the Government going to do general rehabilitation of the hospital? ii. When will the Government procure and deliver the necessary equipment, including the X-ray machine, operating tables, operating trolleys and lamps, and instrument sets for different surgical procedures.” Mr Speaker, my response is that Bundibugyo Hospital is currently facing challenges related to congestion, dilapidated infrastructure, outdated equipment and understaffing. That is true. The Ministry of Health is currently prioritising expansion and rehabilitation of hospitals to match the new structures at different levels. The Ministry of Health is currently assessing all the hospitals and facilities in order to come up with a comprehensive plan that includes the following: i. Infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation, increasing bed capacity and improving existing buildings to meet current health care standards and also reduce patient congestion; ii. Provide modern medical equipment; iii. Ensure that the utilities, that is water and power, are of quality in terms of reliability and stability; and iv. Recruiting additional health care professionals and providing continuous training to improve service delivery. Mr Speaker, the Government is exploring funding sources to expedite the renovation process and address the pressing needs of Bundibugyo Hospital and many others like Masindi, Kagadi, Bugiri, to mention but a few. The fourth question came from Hon. Dr Abdul Byakatonda, MP Workers and his prayers are: i. “What immediate measures is the Government implementing to mitigate the impact of the U.S funding freeze and ensure uninterrupted HIV treatment for 1.4 million Ugandans? ii. What strategies are in place to prevent job losses or reintegration to get high-level skills among Uganda’s 12,551 community health workers whose roles are now at risk due to the withdrawal of U.S support? iii. Given that Uganda currently allocates only 6.5 per cent of the national budget to health, when will the Government fulfil its Abuja Declaration commitment to increase health funding to 15 per cent?

16683 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 6 MARCH 2025 has better facilities than the health centres IV that we have. Why don’t we send doctors on secondment to Holy Family Hospital in Zombo, Kitovu Hospital and others everywhere? They are very few – (Interjection) - we shall maybe get statistics, Madam Prime Minister, but according to what the honourable member stated, there are still some challenges. They can accommodate doctors and have facilities. So, give them more support. Secondly, Mr Speaker, regarding salary enhancement for education officers – the issue of inspection in schools is alarming. Inspection in a district - even yours or mine - is given Shs 2 million in a financial year; that is challenging. The matter I raised yesterday is still the same and the Minister of Education Sports has moved out – he is around, but not sitting in the front row. We need to agree, Madam Prime Minister: this is factual. Training of A’ Level teachers is not yet done and, according to what we know, what is being stated in the schools – (Interjection) - Mr Speaker, the minister is going to respond, if you permit. Let me state my issues –

Honourable colleagues, this is an issue I have been following up on seriously. I report that I had an interaction with the Head of State over it. The people who are affected - like in my constituency, people started uprooting the tea. Areas, which had started, like Zombo District, had challenges. He promised that immediately after his tours, which is soon, he is going to call a meeting of all tea stakeholders; that is, representatives of farmers, factory owners and policymakers, to discuss this issue deeply. I hope this report will also enrich his discussions and preparations before he meets the tea farmers. Let us have a short debate over it - it is an issue, which the Executive is taking seriously - then I will conclude on it. Yes, point of Procedure?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the committee, for this very good report. As part of the agriculture committee, I would like to say that whatever is happening in most parts of the country resonates with the recommendations this committee has put in this report. For example, in Zombo District and many other areas, the tea farmers are uprooting tea trees. And it is really sad to hear that they want to move to banana growing. Let me give an example of Zombo District, the prices of bananas in Zombo were even equally very low. We could not even have where to put the bananas, even if we had wanted to buy them. That would just lead us into a vicious cycle of poverty. I would, therefore, like to request the minister present here, that indeed, let the Government interest itself in supporting tea branding. When we were in Zombo District, we saw very nice branded tea. I think if a lot more is done to improve what it is right now; it will make the quality better. So, let us at least begin with what we already have. That will help us as a country to have Ugandan tea, which we can be proud of and which farmers can also benefit from. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank the presenter of the report. Today we are talking about tea. We are aware that tea was under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries – now we have added another burden of coffee to the same ministry. As we discuss this report, how I wish the ministers were here to hear our concerns about the falling prices of these crops. While we talk about this tea – and Hon. Dorcas has already talked about tea in Zombo and Nebbi districts - tea was introduced, but as we talk now, tea plants have grown into very big trees and the farmers do not know what to do with them. Of course, as a farmer, I know that the population of Uganda is increasing. Food is to be eaten, and therefore, some farmers are even opting to cut down the tea trees to plant the bananas, like in Zombo and Nebbi districts. I, therefore, call upon the Government, especially the ministry, before we talk about improving the quality of the crops we have, we should do research to ensure that we have the market where to sell our produce. SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT [Mr Lagen]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to also join my colleagues to thank, especially the committee that presented this report. They raised pertinent issues and as a Member of the agriculture committee, i would like to associate with our recommendations and the entire report. The tea growers are in serious pain, as you have been hearing from my colleagues. When we went to Zombo - because there was also a petition brought to this Parliament - we found Zombo people crying, that Amin used to fly a plane every day to Zombo and take their tea to Jinja. This touched me and I was asking myself, “What are we doing?” Our citizens are in pain as a country. We, the leaders, have to push this, especially the Leader of Government Business here. Our farmers are frustrated and are uprooting their tea yet tea spoils the soil. It means that those who have uprooted their tea will also not yield anything because that soil is acidic and will not support other crops growing. I do join in another submission and recommendation that the Government should support tea growers and that they should sensitise the tea growers and give them the knowledge on how to attain quality and quantity tea production. These regulations on tea, as a committee, we have been asking that your office takes a step on this because we cannot move on without a regulation; it is very pertinent. Thank you, so much.

Honourable colleagues, I had kept quiet on this; but you talked about quality. If our tea is just used for mixing, how will we even negotiate, with a country to take our tea just mixing? We, who make this kasese waraji , you know, the money for buying my first trouser came from that kind of waragi . There is one we call “juure”, it is for mixing before you get the real waragi, which knocks you out. Those who produce that one from - and now upgraded, in Mitooma; we no longer produce the one you drink. We produce the one we call ‘science.’ This one is watery and not our level. You can see the quality. Oh, there is the Alcohol Bill here – Hon. Sarah Opendi. Anyhow, to emphasise the issue of quality, I have a friend who owns MacDowell Tea. They are the sole suppliers of tea to the royal family in Britain. He sells tea to the royal family and Heralds, from a small garden, but the money he makes - it is all about quality and history. The moment you produce quality; you are on the way to making history. There is even what they call white tea. People who know tea very well - because tea is mainly in the countries that were formerly British colonies - you find a small bag of tea costing US $1,000. Someone gave me a gift of tea, which I will not declare to the Inspector-General of Government, which was 80 years old, fermented in bamboo. However, when you look at the history and you see the cost of it - tea of $1,000 - what we are making is really annoying when country in the neighbourhood earns three times our price. This is not only about negotiating. You will only negotiate if you have good quality. If you do not have it - so, we should never underrate the issue of quality in any way possible. I was going to pick Hon. Kyooma. Then I pick Zombo. Colleagues who have already submitted on other matters, I am sorry. I am not giving you a chance on this.

You have agreed with him. Yes, Member from Zombo.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. First of all, I would like to associate myself with the committee report and the submission of the Chairperson of the agriculture committee, who physically came to Zombo. Zombo District had been growing tea, wheat, and barley, in the 70s. People already had that experience of growing tea and it was booming at that time, until 2014, when His Excellency, the President was asked, by the king that we need to revive the tea plantation. This was appropriate for but what happened, is that up to now, the people of Zombo do not know how much money was used to revive the tea sector. We are still waiting for the report from the relevant Government authorities, but what is important is the quality. The major reason why the market is going down, is quality. At that time, many farmers were discouraged because they planted tea but there was no factory. The Ministry of Trade, decided to give a small machine for processing on small scale to Zombo Tea Farmers’ Cooperative. The machine has never been installed up to now yet we need to address the issue of quality because we have people who are engaged in agriculture, in trade and so on. The Uganda Export Promotion Board, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and technical people, why don’t we address the issue of quality? When you look at tea growers in Africa, for example, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, then Tanzania and Rwanda and so on - we need to address that issue of quality and infrastructure around the tea sector. Let us look at the whole value chain. Otherwise, the people of Zombo are waiting for accountability on how much money was used in the name of Zombo Tea Revival. Thank you very much.

16515 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2025 Luweero people, you have very intelligent leaders. Hon. Brenda and Hon. Robert are there. Bring them back very fast. (Hon. Ssemujju rose_) I had given Zombo first.

16533 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2025 they occupy, the asset inventory for the PAPs on public land in Nakawa East Constituency was updated and new valuation reports were compiled. The review of these reports is being finalised for submission to the Chief Government Valuer by the end of this month. After approval by the Chief Government Valuer, the values will be disclosed to the affected persons. The second question came from Hon. Lawrence Songa, MP for Ora County, Zombo. The 120-kilometre Nebbi-Goli-Paidha-Padea- Zombo-Zeu-Warr-Vurra-Lia-Adramacaku Economic, Revenue Generating and Border Security Road appeared in NDP II, NDP III and the NRM manifesto. Why is it still appearing to be at the feasibility stage in the NDP IV, yet the final detailed engineering design for tarmacking was completed in March 2018? Madam Speaker, the feasibility studies and detailed designs for the upgrading of the Goli- Paidha-Zombo-Zeu-Warr-Vurra (l00km) and Arua-Lia (15km) was completed in March 2018. The Ministry of Works and Transport is in touch with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to ensure commencement of the procurement of the civil works contractor. Civil works are expected to commence in the Financial Year 2025/2026. His second prayer was: What is the progress of seeking funding from BADEA, African Development Bank and others for prioritising the tarmacking of this road in NDPIV? My response, is that BADEA carried out an appraisal for the upgrading of Nebbi-Goli (16km) during the period 26 February to 4 March 2024 and are currently in discussions with the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for the financing of this road. His prayer number three was: why is the construction of bridges, including Adoka, Umol, Aniza, Ora, Nyagak and Ayuda, moving slowly? My response is that for the bridges; Adoka (Odrua), Omolo (Umol), Aniza, Ora, Nyagak and Ayuda along Nebbi-Paidha-Padea-Zombo- Zeu-Warr-Vurra-Lia, only Odrua Bridge is under construction with the bridge structure complete and the construction of access roads ongoing. Umol, Aniza, Ora, Nyagak and Ayuda are in fair condition, although they are single lane. They will be upgraded during the upgrading of Vurra-Goli-Nebbi Road. The contractor is already on site. His prayer number four was: Can Dei- Panyimur-Pakwach-Wadelai-Rhino Camp- Obongi-Laropi-Dufile economic, tourism and security road be included and fast-tracked as an oil road, since it is in the oil belt? My response is that oil roads are those meant to facilitate the exploitation and transportation of oil. The Ministry of Works and Transport will engage the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to assess and advise whether the stated are oil roads. Feasibility studies and detailed designs will be carried out in the medium-term, as resources may permit. Question number three came from Hon. Shartsi Kutesa Musherure, the MP, Mawogola County. Her first prayer was: With the successful launch of Electricity Access Scale-Up Project, could the Prime Minister explain why there has been a delay in the project’s implementation? My response is that the Electricity Access Scale-up Project (EASP) was designed to increase consumer connections in the country by targeting over one million new connections. Connections commenced in March 2024 and over 100,000 new consumers have so far been connected. The connections are limited to no- pole and one-pole service, on a first come, first served basis. The connections programme is, therefore, ongoing. Her prayer number two was: furthermore, could there be clarification as to whether the project prioritises grid extension or service connections for the beneficiaries, and what timelines are in place for its roll-out?

Honourable mem - bers we are in the era of ICT; if a person can - not appear physically, he can appear via Zoom. Yes, we cannot pay. This is a redundant rule. Let me hear from the Whip first, then the Mem - ber from Zombo, - no, there is another Whip there.

Not the proposal;just delete the rule. Yes, Zombo representative?

15904 THE NATIONAL BUDGET FRAMEWORK PAPER FOR THE FY 2025/2026 - 2029/2030 [Mr Ongiertho] border to border with tarmac. However, we have two border points within Greater Nebbi which are very essential to us. That is Goli and Padea. They are not connected. I am bringing this point specifically for Goli, because recently, when the President was in Nebbi, he promised that at least the section from Nebbi town to Goli would be looked at. We have been talking about this road from Nebbi to Goli, to Paidha, to Zombo, up to Vurra, but for this one section, which is from Nebbi town to Goli, at least the President talked about it and I would have expected that in this budget, it would be there; it is not there. Finally, speaking about the free primary and secondary education, we have been battling with the issue of capitation grants for these schools. In primary, it is about Shs 6,000 per child per term. You can imagine, we are now talking about the free primary – What are we talking about? If we are not going to be providing or increasing capitation grants to schools per child, what does it mean? We have also started talking about feeding. Members, we are also already hearing cycles about feeding in schools. What do we mean? If we are not going to be providing budgets for this, we should not be talking about this. At one point, I even told the minister that this issue of free primary and secondary education, do not cross Pakwach with it because parents have started getting used to making a little bit of contribution and for us we are seeing the results. If now we are saying it has to be free and you are not increasing capitation grant, please, we need to be serious about what we are talking about. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I would like to agree with the Attorney-General that when we were in Gulu, I talked about the suitability and capability of our soils. And this was a study done in Uganda. There are areas in Uganda that are not growing coffee yet, but are suitable for certain types of coffee. Those are the areas we are talking about. When you take a place like my district of Zombo, we are a high-altitude area, of 1,300 metres to 2,300 metres above sea level. It is only suitable for Arabica, but there are areas

Madam Chairperson, my colleague from Zombo said that they grow Arabica coffee because they are at a higher altitude. I want to tell colleagues that coffee can be grown even in this House. But it will not taste like the one from other regions. He grows Arabica coffee; we grow Arabica coffee. Our taste is far different. Theirs has no aroma, nothing. (Laughter) Therefore, you come into the House and start talking about Arabica coffee. Coffee has over 10,000 species, which grow everywhere. That is why I said that, even in this House, we could grow a certain type of coffee.

I would like to give this information to the honourable colleague. There are many people from the Elgon area who are buying coffee from Zombo, for blending, and they pack it as Elgon coffee because we are not packaging at the moment. Zombo has been growing coffee for a very, very long time and we are not about to stop growing Arabica coffee.

Madam Speaker, the colleague has made a very dangerous statement that Zombo coffee is used for blending Bugisu Arabica coffee. I think you are making a fundamental mistake (Laughter), and I can state that, all over the world, the best coffee in this world, which is Arabica coffee, comes from Mount Elgon.

Hon. Nathan, blending the Bugisu coffee with Zombo coffee would mean adulteration. Can you withdraw your statement?

Madam Speaker, I want him to withdraw it. The reason is that for Bugisu Arabica Coffee, if you mix it with coffee from Zombo, it ceases to be “Elgon Pride”. If you are the one taking our coffee to brand, and making it “Zombo Coffee”, you are making a mistake. We want to clearly state that our coffee can never - if there are businessmen who are blending it, that is the businessmen, but there is no way Bugisu coffee can be blended with Zombo’s.

Madam Chair - person, I am on clause 52. We are talking about section 53 of the law. I would like to bring this to the notice of my colleague from Zombo – (Laughter) - that under section 53(2)(h), it says: “Adulterated coffee” – (Interjections) - that one – (Laughter) - or is in possession of adulterated coffee, including mixing coffee of different types or mixing coffee with non-coffee materials or types.” So, Madam Chairperson, I would like to put the colleague on notice that if there are people in Zombo who are mixing coffee from other areas, they are committing a crime. You better report them immediately to the police.

Thank you very much. Honourable members, are you in agreement with that? It is seconded by the Rt Hon. Prime Minister, Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the Vice-President, the Minister of Finance, Hon. Musasizi, Hon. Lugoloobi, honourable member from Bunyoro, Minister of Internal Affairs, and Hon. Katuntu. On the other side, Hon. Oboth – by the whole House. Hon. Linos is also here. There is also the Government Chief Whip, Hon. Mudimi, Hon. Fred Opolot, Hon. Cosmas, the Member for Zombo, Hon. Tom Bright Amooti, Hon. Abdallah and the acting Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Ibanda. (Laughter) (Motion seconded.) I put the question that the Nonperforming Assets Recovery Trust Act (Repeal) Bill, 2024 be read for the second time. (Question put and agreed to.) (Motion carried.) BILLS COMMITTEE STAGE THE NON-PERFORMING ASSETS RECOVERY TRUST ACT (REPEAL) BILL, 2024 Clause 1

However, we will need to check our records if he has not been asking for permission not to be in the House. Yes, the honourable member for Mitooma, then Zombo and Hon. Rose.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I join honourable colleagues to congratulate this committee and thank you for this opportunity. In Arua District, we have a lot of problems in our health sector especially poor service delivery at the health centres with no legal supervision. If you go on the ground, you will know that people are suffering at the health centres. In Arua District, Vurra Constituency specifically does not have a Health Centre IV. We have Health Centres II and III - Pondo Health Centre III, Logiri Health Centre III, Lazebu Health Centre III, Nyadri Health Centre III, and Ayaayah Health Centre III. The distance from Vurra to Arua City, where the Referral Hospital is, is very long yet we do not have means of transport. We have only one ambulance, which is at Arua City. From Vurra to Arua City; people are suffering. In case of an emergency, getting transport becomes a problem. Our people are suffering because Vurra borders Zombo. From Zombo border to Arua Referral Hospital is very far. On the ground, there is a problem of stealing drugs by the technical staff. The Government will send the drug but after two to three days, the drugs will be over. This means there are some technical people, who are always on the ground stealing Government drugs. We are near the DRC border, and the number of people who get the services from Uganda is big. People are always lining up to get the services.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I had requested permission to lay on the Table a copy of the minutes of the committee and a copy of the report. I beg to lay, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, this report is rather bulky, and in the interest of time, I request that you permit me to take the House through an executive summary that I have prepared. As I said, this report looks at the functionality of the district service commission and city service commission and also on personnel management in selected local governments across northern, eastern, and western regions. Mr Speaker, we already know the mandates of our committee, and in line with these mandates, the committee conducted an oversight visit to selected cities and districts of northern Uganda such as Arua, Maracha, Terego, Yumbe, Zombo, and Moyo in West Nile; Gulu District, Gulu City, Nwoya, Kitgum, and Pader in Acholi; Moroto Municipality, Moroto District, Amudat, Nabilatuk, Karenga, Kaabong, Kotido Municipality, and Kotido District in Karamoja; Lira City, Lira District, Amolatar District Local Government, Kole, and Otuke in Lango, to assess the functionality of the District and City Service Commission and to analyse the personnel management issues within local governments. Mr Speaker, the committee has made a comprehensive report with a detailed version of its findings, observations and recommendations, giving examples and scenarios from local government to bring out the issues affecting the functionality of these commissions and the staff. Without prejudice to the comprehensive report, this Executive Summary highlights the key issues as follows: Committee findings, observations, and recommendations. On the functionality of District Service Commission, Mr Speaker, 1. We looked at gaps in the commissions. The committee found out that 98.6 per cent of the District and City Service Commissions were functional by end of the Financial Year 2022/2023, and most commissions were fully constituted. However, there are some districts that are non-functional with insufficient number of commissions. For example, Amudat District had only one District Service Commission member, which severely affected the recruitment processes, leading to delays and increasing the risk of corruption. The committee recommends that the Ministry of Local Government, together with the Public Service Commission, should ensure that all commissions are fully constituted for efficient service delivery in local governments. 2. Delays in Public Service Commission approval processes The report highlights delays by the Public Service Commission in approving Service Commission nominees, often without providing reasons for rejection. This lack of transparency and delayed approvals impede the recruitment process and affect service delivery. In Moyo, delays in submitting approved names to the Service Commission were noted, attributed to negligence. The committee also noted poor grievance handling by the Public Service Commission, which has been slow in responding to appeals, leading to prolonged disputes and inefficiencies. The committee therefore recommends the following;

14107 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 29 AUGUST 2024 We also recognise and appreciate the decision to elevate three municipalities into cities. These are notably; Gulu, Lira, and Arua cities plus Moroto which is not yet operationalised, but it was passed. This elevation status has created immense opportunities for the region, which, if properly harnessed, will bolster the development of this area. Your Excellency, we also recognise that northern Uganda is not a homogeneous society. The different subregions within northern Uganda have peculiar realities which impact on their growth and development. However, there are cross cutting realities notably; the post war recovery, the high level of poverty and ever growing youth population a fair number of which are unemployed, a large track of arable land, averse national resources, the high influx of refugees, environmental degradation, limited transport infrastructure, heavy reliance on subsistence agriculture, limited value addition to agricultural output, retrogressive cultural practices such as cattle rustling, and the subjection of women and girl child, the enormous water resources, lack of health facilities and lack of enough schools. For instance, if you look at Gulu, Gulu City does not have a Senior five, A-level school. While we have a number of issues that affect each and every area that is; West Nile, Acholi, Lango and Karamoja. Then delayed compensation of war victims and lack of compensation for the land that was taken over during the insurgency. Your Excellency, the sitting specifically took cognisance of the need for mindset change as a major catalyst for increased production and social-economic transformation in the northern region. In addition, the House recognised the need to embrace viable cash crops, livestock agriculture, agricultural mechanisation and value addition, and sustainable organic farming, among others. The Sitting recognised the importance of reliable transport and communication infrastructure as an enabler of growth and development. To this end, Members raised the need for the rehabilitation and development of strategic national roads infrastructure in the different regions notably; Moroto-Kotido- Kaabong-Karenga Road, Koboko-Yumbe- Moyo Road, Kitgum-Kidepo Road, Nebbi- Goli-Paidha-Zombo-Warr-Vurra Road. They are very many of them plus bridges and we shall hand it over to you. Including our famous Karuma Bridge that is about to give way. Your Excellency, at the end of this Sitting, I will submit to you a memorandum detailing the specifics of the areas of concern that this House has passed, that the committees found on ground and need to be worked on in the northern region. Members noted the need to work to ensure the success of the prevailing government development initiatives such as Emyooga . The 4-acre model may not be vital in this area because we have all the land. What we need is to do mechanisation, provide some funds in societies, create market for these products, identify the cash crops to be grown in this area to have a participatory approach to what is being done in this area and have a micro- credit scheme by adapting such programmes to local realities in order to achieve meaningful outcomes in the region. Your Excellency, at the end of the Sitting, we will transmit these resolutions for your relevant action as the Chief Finance Minister of this country. All these relate to finances. Our work is to find out what is lacking but at the end of the day, it all comes back to the Chief Finance Minister who is none other than your good self. As the leadership of the Legislature, we intend to have the regional sittings as a salient aspect of our legislative culture and vision of taking Parliament to the people. We, being a people- centred Parliament, we believe in evidence- based legislation and this can ably be done by our committees who go to the ground and find out what is happening there and report back to Parliament. Your Excellency, I now take the singular honour to invite you to address the House and

Thank you, Hon. Nakut Faith. Is the motion seconded? (Members rose_) Okay, it is seconded by Hon. Isaac, the Member for Zombo – by the whole House, including the Minister for Northern Uganda. Thank you. Yes, Hon. Akol.

Yes, Zombo -

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am Esther Afoyochan, the Woman Member of Parliament for Zombo District and a Parliamentary Commissioner.

Madam Speaker, welcome back from the holy city. My name is Songa Lawrence Biyika, Member of Parliament for Ora County in Zombo District and also the Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change. The people of Zombo asked me to tell you that in this meeting we should conclude the issue of tarmacking the road to Zombo. Thank you.

Yes, one priority road which we need to tarmac is the road which can generate for us revenue, and that is the road from Nebbi, Goli, Paidha, Padea, Zombo, Zeu, Warr up to Vurra Custom, then Liya toward Odramacako. Because Uganda needs revenue, we need to prioritize that road which appeared in the NDP II but was left out. In the NDP III; it is not tarmacked up to now. We need to use that logic to generate money from the border in order to build the internal roads. So, that is the priority road the President talked about it recently at Hon. Nyamutoro’s function in Nebbi; let us prioritise that road. For some of these roads being mentioned, they are still doing the concept; let us grade them; that this road already has full engineering design, this one is at the concept stage, and then from there, we can prioritise because we cannot do all of them at the same time.

14057 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 28 AUGUST 2024 We want to request and implore the minister of Finance to take interest in the economic value that this road will give to this country. We are not only talking for Zombo, but this road of Goli to Vurra can make other roads in this country. Minister of Finance, I would love to give you free transportation to go and we do this study together. Possibly you will appreciate what we, the Members of Parliament, have already appreciated. Thank you.

There is a procedural matter. Honourable members, before the procedural matter comes, in the VIP gallery we have Mr Milton Odongo, the RDC of Pader, and Mr Wadri Sam Nyakua, the Mayor of Arua City. We also have, Mr David Kennedy Odongo from Alebtong District, Mr John Nangiro from Nakapiripirit District, Mr Stephen Obitre from Maracha District, and Mr Abibu Bulia Khemij Awadi from Obongi District. We also have Mr Hassan Ringitho from Zombo District, Mr Michael Ivan Ocaya from Kitgum Municipal Council – he is the Deputy Speaker, and Ms Vanessa Anyako, the Female Youth Councillor, Laro Pece Division.

And that priority crop must be where we have comparative advantage. If you take my district of Zombo - we have Arabica coffee, and Uganda is the second largest coffee producer in Africa after Ethiopia. However, we need to prioritise those crops or enterprises where we have priority; I mean, comparative advantage, and when we are known for that, we create a niche. It does not stop us from growing other crops. I have experience working in many communities around the world where they have one village and one product. In this case, we are talking about a regional priority niche where we can get a lot of income because we have a comparative advantage. Thank you.

Very good, Madam Speaker. In my district of Zombo, we have been saying, “Arabica coffee from Zombo is highly needed in the world.” And we needed the Government to give us seedlings for Arabica coffee and tea but up to now, we have not received those seedlings. Otherwise, we are sensitising our people on how to create these priorities. Thank you.

13925 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 14 AUGUST 2024 Related to that, the materials for making solar batteries are still taxed. It makes solar very expensive. It is the same with cylinders. That should be addressed. On the Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company and the Uganda Development Bank (UDB), the issue will be more to do with the interest rate. How much is the interest rate? Is it affordable? That should be addressed. The agreement was signed but you say it does not cover transformers. Why did we sign an agreement which does not cover transformers? What is the alternative? Where are we going to get transformers? We need transformers to have electricity that is reliable, strong, and for industrial power generation. On the issue of coverage, when I look at the district of Zombo and greater Nebbi, the coverage of this project is very scanty. Health centres and irrigation sites should be included so that they are also connected. There is an issue of the Project Affected Persons (PAPs). During the recess, I had people who had challenges with that but we explained, and we shall continue to explain that the money is going to be processed so that they are paid. World Bank issues focus too much on refugee host areas. How about refugee-impacted areas? This should also be addressed. Otherwise, on the challenges, we are ready to support you so that this can be addressed – (Member timed out.)

13515 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 2 JULY 2024 and these are funds required to commence establishment of mineral regulations, revenue collection infrastructure and implementation of the minerals law. These include weighbridges and Government regulated markets for precious stones et cetera. Under the same vote - Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, there was a reduction of Shs 15 billion from rural electrification and connectivity projects. These funds are required to kick-start works on the seven major construction roads, which include the following: 1. Under Batch 1; the Eastern Service Territory, including West Budama South, Tororo South and Tororo Municipality in Tororo District, Pallisa County, and Gogonyo in Pallisa District; 2. Under Batch 2; still in the Eastern Service Territory, it covers areas of Busiki in Namutumba, Bukooli South in Bugiri, Kamuli District, Kachumbala in Bukedea District, Mbale Northern Division, Bungokho in Mbale and Serere District; 3. Lot 3; Northwest Service Territory for Buyanja East in Kibaale District, Bugangaizi South in Kakumiro District, Buhaguzi in Hoima, Hoima City, Kikuube and Buyaga East in Kagadi District; 4. Under lot 4 of West Nile, Central North and North Service Territory for Ora area in Zombo, Gulu; Aringa South in Yumbe, Dokolo District and Lira East in Lira District. 5. West, South and South Western Service Territory for Sheema, Ruhinda in Mitooma, Isingiro, Rubanda, Ibanda, and Kisoro Districts; 6. Western, Central, and Rwenzori Service Territory for Busongora North in Kasese, Fort Portal Central in Kabarole, Kyankwanzi and Bunyangabo Districts; 7. Central Service Territory for Bbale in Kayunga, Mukono South in Mukono, Butambala, Bukoto East in Masaka and Kiboga Districts. Madam Chairperson, in addition, these funds are required to commence works of enhancing the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) framework priority interventions for small factories and cottage industries across the country. (Interjections ) The SMEs framework intervention is aimed at reducing the turnaround time for electricity connection to SMEs.

ruL Amount (OOO'I 89,63t,278 933 Wakiso District 47,722,044 934 Yumbe District 28.208.333 935 Zombo District 4.67A357 Locd Governments I ll 18,915,265 B - DEVETO / lr( .t 4. OW 17 '1. I .) ( 20,L24,OOO OfIice of the President oo1 oo2 2t,722,OOO State House 3,470,400 003 Office of the Prime Minister 2.L26.7t3,395 \oo+ Ministry of Defence t,748,rr4 \os Ministry of Public Service oo6 oo7 Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs 3 883 145 8 636 ooo Minis of Affairs 596,604,924 008 Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 690,880 oo9 Ministry of Intemal Affairs 010 L44 646 216 1 770 t57 999 191 364 443 Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Ind and Fisheries of l.ocal Government M Ministry of Lands, Housing & t Urban Deve 011 o12 524.688.974 - 013 Ministry of Education and Sports r.245.O34,414 014 Ministry of Health 4,818,888 Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-Operatives o15 016 t,944,640,306 Ministry of Works, and Transport i l" i< t: h*&-

Honourable mem - bers, I am happy that you are the ones who are now tired. (Laughter) Because I was ready and I am ready to move. We are now moving on to districts, and they are from 804, that is Alebtong to 935, which is Zombo.

13195 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 30 APRIL 2024 Vote 903: Nakasongola District – Shs 116,719,304; Vote 904: Namayingo District - Shs 11,900,000; Vote 905: Namisindwa District - Shs 1,118,779,694; Vote 907: Napak District – Shs 716,142,230; Vote 910: Ntoroko District – Shs 200,000,000; Vote 911: Ntungamo District – Shs 1,578,281,727; Vote 914: Omoro District - Shs 945,418,871; Vote 915: Otuke District – Shs 140,384,222; Vote 916: Oyam District – Shs 686,642,360; Vote 918: Pakwach District - Shs 1,194,282,483; Vote 919: Pallisa District - Shs 153,095,758; Vote 920: Rakai District - Shs 2,454,394,511; Vote 922: Rubirizi District – Shs 1,826,796,820; Vote 923: Rukiga District - Shs 147,370,222; Vote 924: Rukungiri District - Shs 885,488,277; Vote 925: Rwampara District – Shs 770,470,627; Vote 927: Serere District - Shs 311,478,920; Vote 928: Sheema District – Shs 1,953,424,896; Vote 932: Tororo District - Shs 91,205,614; Vote 933: Wakiso District – Shs 5,194,470,980; and Vote 935: Zombo District - Shs 819,580,024.

(Members rose_) Seconded by Hon. Wanda, the Government Chief Whip, Hon. Elwelu, Hon. Yusuf, Hon. Avur, Hon. Noeline, Hon. Namujju, Hon. Cissy, Member for Hoima, Minister for Education, Hon. Kibalya, Hon. Margaret, Hon. Mamawi, Hon. Edakasi, Hon. Flora, Member for Sheema, Elders representative, Hon. Wilson, Member for Aruu, Member for Zombo, Hon. Oulanyah - I think you just do not like Kibale.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I stand to support that NFA must remain semi-autonomous for these reasons: As I was growing up, Zombo district had a forest called Lendu Forest, with natural trees. Today, Lendu forest is depleted, the same road that they used to deplete this forest was never constructed until NFA came in and re- afforested the entire place. Madam Speaker, the Government has not demonstrated good leadership in terms of managing forests and I think they cannot be custodians of forests at this time. Thank you.

It was Zombo mainly.

12543 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA THURSDAY, 11 APRIL 2024 Where there are internal capacity challenges, the National Planning Authority should undertake the studies. On budgeting for Anti-Money Laundering, and Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/ CFT) We recommend that the Uganda Police Force implement the strategic deficiencies under its jurisdiction on pending action items from the National Risk Assessment of 2023. Traffic and Road Safety We note that this department implements an express penalty scheme, which forms the bulk of NTR. We, therefore, recommend an additional Shs 8.6 billion for the procurement of transport equipment and installation of an IOV inspection lane and certification centre and Shs 18 billion for the procurement of 10 mobile inspection stations for IOV. Police Accommodation and Ongoing Con - struction Projects There is continued construction of 240 staff houses in Jinja and Entebbe, which requires an additional Shs 69.986 billion. Construction of eight accommodation blocks at the headquarters in Nakasongola, Sheema, Busolwe, Mitooma, Kanungu, and Kakumiro has a funding gap of Uganda’s Shs 2.24 billion, among others. These projects need independent project designs with national coverage, standardisation and ease of project monitoring? Therefore, we recommend developing a comprehensive project to undertake countrywide interventions with the same standards to ease the monitoring of such infrastructure. Subcounty Policing Model This model is premised on concentrating limited resources at a subcounty for efficiency and effectiveness in providing policing services to the communities. This requires the following: (i) Deploying a minimum of 18 personnel; (ii) 2 motorcycles per police station; (iii) 1 motor vehicle; (iv) A counter phone and radio communication; (v) An office. If this model is to be phased, starting with high-risk crime levels, taking 30 subcounties that have been planned requires Shs 36.946 billion. However, only Shs 5.6 billion has been provided in the Financial Year 2024/2025 budget for only 9 subcounties. We, therefore, recommend that Uganda Police Force first pilot this model with the existing funds provided in the budget and expand it given the lessons learned in the piloted subcounties. On crime management We note that Uganda Police Force intends to expand the Canine units to 10 districts of Nebbi, Koboko, Budaka, Bukomansimbi, Butambala, Zombo, Adjumani, Madi-Okollo, Packwach and Kaberamaido during FY 2024/2025 with a provision of Shs 0.709 billion out of the required Shs 2.968 billion, leaving a gap of Shs 2.259 billion. We, therefore, recommend providing Shs 2.259 billion for the canine unit to take its services to the above districts and closer to communities in the Finacial Year 2024/2025 budget. In addition, the Uganda Police Force should sensitize the masses on the importance of not interfering with scenes of crime to deploy canine dogs effectively in the investigative mechanism. On stationery, Mr Speaker, we note that the shortage of stationery at police units is a source of perceived corruption, dissatisfaction, loss of confidence and ultimately poor police image. A provision of Shs 2.172 billion has been made for the Financial Year 2024/2025, yet the

Bzsiness Deuelopment and. Qualitg Assurance (1) National business development services guideline developed for 200 men, women, and youth & mainstreamed in the BFP in Central, Northern, West Nile & Eastern Regions. (2) 220 MSMEs of men, youth and women entrepreneurs trained on making Business Plans, Financial Literacy, Resource Mobilization, and Record Keeping. Kiruhura, Rwampara, Kabale,Rubanda, Mitooma, pallisa, Serere, Oyam, Kalaki and Otuke. (3) 60 youths, women, and entrepreneurs prepared to attend trade exhibition in South Sudan Capital, Juba. (41 160 MSMEs of men, women, youths PWDs mobitized and sensitized on the importance of product certification, aud.its, food fortification, and GHp for enterprises in Kotido, Napak DLG, Abim, Amudat, Zombo, Arua, Madi-Oko1o Serere & Kole. (5) T\ryo (21 Business tinkages established between MSMEs and large-scale enterprises for men, women and PWDs. in Soroti City, Amuria, Katakwi, Kumi, Busia, Tororo and Butaleja for men, women and pwDs. (6) 850 MSMEs profiled per region of the country and MSMEs database populated for 212 youths 212 women, 25Omen and 176 pWDs. in Central, Northern and Western Regions. Process ing and. Marketing (1) A detailed study and assessment on various stages of the textile value chain in Uganda from yarn production to manufacturing conducted. ( t u , T +n {> ,.:'._J!!}.$F (\-.

12256 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT which are pending debate; we need to conclude them as soon as possible. MOTION FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES ON A PETITION BY ZOMBO TEA NURSERY OPERATORS ON THE DELAYED SUPPLY OF TEA SEEDLINGS TO FARMERS IN THE DISTRICT

Thank you, Mr Speaker. On behalf of the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and my chairperson, I beg to submit and lay on the Table the minutes and the report. This petition was presented to this Floor by the Zombo Tea Nursery Operators and Farmers Association on 21 May 2023. The petition was about the delayed supply of tea seedlings to farmers in Zombo. In accordance with Rule 30(6) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, you referred the petition (Annex 1) to the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for consideration. And because of time, I would like to give a brief background about tea growing in Zombo.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. There were three prayers: 1. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries to authorise National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), in conjunction with Zombo District Local Government, to procure tea seedlings, so that farmers are supplied within the shortest time possible; 2. The above demand should be met under the same arrangement as that of the year 2022 since it was just postponed due to the then-approaching dry season; and 3. If the demand or requests are not fulfilled by the Government, then the nursery operators and farmers should be compensated for the loss of investment and business, alternative use of land and time. Mr Speaker, in the brief reference for consideration of this petition, arising from the prayers in the petition and circumstances leading to the petition, the committee formulated various terms of reference, as put in writing, by having meetings and a field trip to Zombo for facts finding. Findings, observations and recommendations 1. To establish whether the Government, through NAADS, invited Zombo Nursery Operators to produce tea seedlings for distribution to farmers. This was done and it was found out that on 21st September 2022, Cabinet made a directive for a one-off procurement of tea and coffee seedlings during the 2022 seasons. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries wrote to the 16 tea-growing district local governments on 28 September 2022, which is in Annex 1, seeking information on quantities of verified mature tea seedlings in nurseries at that time. The committee established that between 29 September and 17 October 2022, NAADS initiated and executed procurement for the verified tea seedlings, under a delegated procurement arrangement, to the six district local governments that submitted information to MAAIF within the prescribed timeframe.

12257 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 2 APRIL 2024 According to MAAIF, Zombo was not among the districts, which submitted the required information within the designated time frame. The district requested to defer procurement of their tea seedlings to the March 2023 planting season, on account of the anticipated dry spell. They thought that this would be a waste because even if the seedlings were supplied, they would dry up because of the dry spell. Zombo District, in compliance with the MAAIF letter, had invited verified tea nursery operators to provide information about the quantity of tea seedlings they had in stock. In response to the district invitation, 45 nursery operators invested in the production of tea seedlings for sale to NAADS. The committee established that NAADS sought guidance from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development about the possibility of carrying forward the procurement and delivery of seedlings by Zombo District Local Government. The district received no response, despite several correspondences to that effect. On 6th October 2022, Zombo District Local Government submitted information to NAADS about the available tea seedlings in the nurseries without the demand data. It is in Annex 4. The committee observed as follows: 1. Zombo District Local Government submitted data on 6 October 2022 of verified tea nursery operators and the quantity of seedlings produced within the specified time frame by MAAIF from 29th September to 17th October 2022 for consideration of payment. However, there was no demand data, as was required by the Ministry of Agriculture; and 2. Zombo District Local Government, in anticipation of the dry spell, requested NAADS to defer procurement of the tea seedlings to March 2023. However, by the time of writing this report, the Ministry of Finance had not responded to the request, leaving the district and the farmers in suspense. Committee recommendations 1. MAAIF or NAADS and Zombo District Local Government should urgently verify the viable and overgrown seedlings among the originally verified nursery operators; 2. The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should urgently avail funds to pay all the verified nursery operators for the still-viable tea seedlings for distribution to farmers for planting, as determined by Zombo District and NAADS; 3. The Ministry of Finance should compensate the originally verified tea nursery operators in Zombo, whose seedlings have overgrown and are no longer viable for planting; and 4. The Ministry of Finance should establish a more efficient communication mechanism to respond promptly to inquiries from district local governments, to foster better coordination and prevent unnecessary delays in vital agricultural processes. The second term, of reference was to establish whether the Governments had committed to procure and pay for the tea seedlings In Cabinet Minute 340(CT 2022), the Government agreed to a one-off arrangement to procure and distribute tea seedlings across the 16 tea-growing districts. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in compliance with this Cabinet decision wrote to Zombo and the other 15 districts, communicating the Government’s decision and instructing the districts to identify, verify and submit a list of tea nursery operators and the quantities of seedlings required by the farmers in the district. Zombo District Local Government, in response to the ministry’s communication, proceeded to identify, verify and instruct the selected nursery operators (45) to raise over 10 million seedlings for its tea farmers. It further proceeded to communicate the list of verified nursery operators and their quantities

12258 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT of seedlings, which totalled 16,765,000 seedlings, to the ministry, through Zombo District Local Government. However, this communication lacked the demand data and Zombo requested MAAIF to defer the procurement to March 2023, to coincide with the growing season. Observations (i) The Government, through written communication and other documents plus testimonies from the farmers, committed to procure, pay and distribute the seedlings to the farmers; (ii) The exclusion of Zombo from the six districts lined up for payment by the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)/MAAIF with the claim that Zombo District had not submitted their information was false. The decision to exclude Zombo from the list of the districts to be paid due to lack of demand data was, therefore, not, in the committee’s opinion, justified; (iii) The committee, however, was not able to establish the reasons for the failure of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to communicate to Zombo District Local Government and MAAIF/NAADS its position on the request to defer procurement to March 2023. The finance ministry did not respond to the committee’s invitation to appear before it and respond to the matter. The committee, therefore, recommends that the Government should proceed to fulfil its commitment and pay all verified tea seedling suppliers within the current financial year. The third term of reference is that the committee wanted to establish the number of nursery operators who had responded to the Government’s invitation and the number of tea seedlings they had raised. The committee was informed that Zombo District Local Government had identified, verified and invited 45 tea nursery operators to produce/raise over 10 million seedlings to supply 1,000 farmers/households over a period of three years at a unit cost of Shs 500 per seedling. In anticipation of an increased number of tea farmers and the tea plantation, and to support the development of the tea industry in Zombo, the Government in 2016 offered to set up a tea factory in the district. In the picture, Mr Speaker, is one of the nursery beds that we monitored, as we proceed -

Mr Speaker, the observations were to: (i) The establishment of a tea factory in Zombo has the potential to stimulate economic development in the region through the creation of employment opportunities, provision of a market for mature tea, technology transfer and payment of taxes, among others; (ii) The Alur Kingdom had offered 10 acres to the Government to construct a tea factory. However, progress could not be made because ownership of the land was being contested by a private investor, Mukwano Industries. The contested land is connected to the national electricity grid; (iii) Given the above contestation, Zombo District Local Government and the Zeu community have identified an alternative piece of land for a government tea factory, which awaits surveying, titling and transfer of ownership to the district; and (iv) Further, the district had invited a private investor to set up a tea factory and allocated five acres at Zombo Technical Institute, which was a District Firm Institute (DFI- ZEU), also referred to as Presidential

12259 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 2 APRIL 2024 Initiative Skilling Centre-ZEU, for this purpose. This land, however, is yet to be developed. Recommendations (i) The Government and Zombo District Local Government should quickly resolve the issue of ownership of the land provided by the Alur Kingdom, which is contested by Mukwano Industries; (ii) Zombo District Local Government should urgently follow up and complete the process of survey, registration and transfer of ownership of the land availed by the Zeu community for the tea factory; and (iii) On the contingent on the availability of unencumbered land, the Government should disburse Shs 19.5 billion to expedite the establishment of the tea factory in Zombo.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. In light of the above findings and observations, it is the prayer of the committee that the House adopts the report of the committee in its entirety. I beg to report. (Applause) THE DEPUTY SPEAKER . Thank you, committee chairperson. Before I pick Hon. Lawrence Songa, let me pick a Member of Parliament from Zombo – oh! Sorry, my chairman.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, I thank the committee and request the House to adopt the report. However, let me mention one or two things. The issue of tea in Zombo, to the farmers and the stakeholders, has been of great frustration. I have visited the tea estates about five times. Some of the colleagues who have been in this House, who invested in tea, have been frustrated for the last 10 years. Farmers planted tea and some tea gardens have overgrown and the Government’s pledge to give a tea factory is one of the prayers still being sought until today. Many families have lost their livelihoods. As we are in the budgeting cycle, I would like to implore the august House to have mercy on the tea farmers from Zombo, because tea was a colonial crop. Tea was introduced by the colonial government, it thrived very well and has its roots in Zombo. When it was re-introduced, the old tea, which was planted during the colonial period was there. I would really like to add my voice and send my sympathies to the farmers that they should not lose hope. Let the House adopt the report, and the Government should do its part to set up a tea factory such that the farmers can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr Speaker, I appreciate the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for visiting Zombo, especially when they were looking at the issue of tea. I totally agree with the recommendations. It is true that the Government invited these nursery operators and they raised the seedlings to the

12260 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT tune of about 16 million seedlings and it is also true that the decision by Cabinet was taken in September when it was already heading dry season. It would be meaningless to plant tea in October which was already a dry season. The people of Zombo requested for deferment and wanted to plant in 2023 in March. In March 2023, seedlings were not supplied because there was no response from the Government and also in the second rain season of August, seedlings were not supplied to the farmers yet the farmers were ready to plant. Therefore, since other regions have been given seedlings and have planted - because of the dry season in Zombo, it was not possible. In fact, currently, we have nurseries that have seedlings, and the committee verified. Although some seedlings have overgrown, the majority of the seedlings are still okay. Therefore, I agree with the prayer that urgently the district together with National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) and with the ministry, verify the seedlings quickly so that farmers can plant this season from April until July. I think that would be very good for us. Related to that, we requested a factory because some people planted seedlings before. For this factory, we need Shs 19 billion so that it can be put in place because the factories needed in Zombo are not only one; they can be three because the plantation already exists. There was also the issue of a machine. While we were waiting for the factory, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives decided to get a machine for the Zombo tea cooperatives so that they could process tea seedlings as they waited for the factory to be put in place. However, although this machine left Kampala, it did not reach the farmers. I request the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to come and make a statement. Where is that machine? I think with the other players; I agree that the Government should respond. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Allow me to appreciate the committee for the work they did in Zombo; they were in touch with us and we gave them the support they needed. This report comes at a very good time when the House is in the budgeting process. We would love to see this report not just end as a report but be backed by finances in the coming year so that people of Zombo who have been suffering from issues of tea can start reaping from it. Mr Speaker, you requested for an update. I want to inform you that a lot of tea in Zombo has turned into trees. What is very painful is that people utilised their land to cultivate this tea and have no other land to grow other crops and activities. That means that they have hope in only the tea alone. We, therefore, wish to see a budget trying to solve such problems. We shall be here during the budgeting process and we implore the House to support us on this to bring this issue to an end. Thank you.

12261 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 2 APRIL 2024 I am seeing here they are even talking of Shs 500. For us, they were giving Shs 450. We lost a lot of money, but I survived because I had other businesses that helped me survive. Some people are still in prison and some committed suicide. I know the pain of the people of Zombo, and what they are going through. Unfortunately, we do not have anyone from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries despite having how many ministers but the Prime Minister is here. Let us first hear from the Hon. Emmanuel and then Hon. Santa plus Hon. Nyakikongoro.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the committee for a job well done. I do not want to repeat what my colleagues have already stated, but we need to understand Zombo as a unique area, particularly for us in West Nile and the greater Nebbi. The point Hon. Esther has raised about the land matter is serious because Zombo actually should be the food basket for the whole of West Nile. So, if the land they had and because of the campaign, which was given on tea, people got convinced, like you were convinced and decided to go in for tea and could not grow food items. It pains, if one or two years, these people can be stuck in such a problem. The recommendation for compensation is very important because somehow, people can then still go ahead and cultivate and grow their tea. I want to add that when I was still working for an organisation, the Zeu area had a whole expanse of land that was having tea trees. I remember we would even go, locally harvest, and have our local tea. I imagine such an area is the area that our king is talking about that the Government could take over and make sure tea growing is done well in our area. We implore our Government to ensure that our people are compensated and that the factory comes so that eventually, we can have a difference in our zone. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Allow me to join my colleagues in thanking the committee for doing a thorough job. I share the pain of the people of Zombo District, especially the farmers whose livelihood depends on the tea growing. When you look at the nursery operators, you realise that some of them even borrowed money from banks, SACCOs or elsewhere. They are running up and down trying to see how to pay back this money. Mr Speaker, some children are not even going to school because of the failure of this business. I am very much disturbed that I do not see the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development who is supposed to answer this plea because what we are looking for is money. I do not see the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries nor do I see the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to thank the committee for the very good report presented. I also sympathise with the Speaker who always presides over such petitions every time they bring them on the Floor of Parliament because they have not yielded the results that the citizens of the country expect. Look at how they excited the people of Zombo to grow tea and they were excited to have that factory in Zombo. Right now, they do not have that factory. That is why Hon. Afoyochan was saying that the tea trees had grown into bushes. Likewise, people were excited because they knew that the tea-growing business had come back. You have ably said that you put in your money, but lost it. You can imagine the Speaker who has other sources of income - you have a salary, Mr Speaker. But think about those peasants who have engaged in the production of tea seedlings yet up to now, they have not been paid. They have children in school who are being chased away. They have sold their land, by the way, in order to pay for that. Mr Speaker, two years back, you ably guided that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should at least pay people in phases each financial year, including those who were demanding money for coffee seedlings, by the way. My ears have been on the ground. Many people are crying. My father turned 90 years old this month. He supplied coffee seedlings to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). Up to now - four years down the road, they have never cleared him.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I also thank the committee for the very pertinent and touching report presented about Zombo. Leave alone the losses made by the people from tea. Any overgrown tea garden is a danger to society. It is a very good haven for wild animals and thieves. It is a good forest for hiding. When we have tea gardens like those in Zombo and the ones growing wild in Mitooma, Bushenyi and Buhweju, we are also growing another danger of vermin within the societies. I am appealing to the Government - when we talk about Shs 19 billion for investing in a tea factory in Zombo, and then about Shs 180 billion in terms of returns, the Government should be very calculative and do that business. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Thank you. Honourable colleagues, let us not lose focus on the matter. Farmers were mobilised in Zombo by the Government to “Establish nursery beds and you are going to supply tea to the people.” Of course, some people got excited, got seedlings and everyone went in for tea. However, let us first sort out the most important issue of the nursery bed operators. Let us help the operators, and then we can get to the issues of the factory. We should focus on the operators because most of them may even go to prison if they are not helped.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just for perspective, tea is the fourth largest agricultural export in Uganda after coffee, maize and the like. That is why the Government encouraged people in Zombo to venture into that field because it was lucrative. So, it is very critical. Again, we have excited people and not shouldered them. Mr Speaker, in the recent past, about 90 factories shut down due to the high cost of production. Of course, again, the Government told them to go in that direction saying that they would be supported, but the support was not given and they crumbled. They have many employees who have no jobs anymore. We thought we were going to bolster our exports, but it did not happen. Again, in doing this, we are telling the Government to fulfil its pledge. We have seen many entities or factories being bailed out, can you take action on these ones you promised? We expected the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to be here with us, but he is not. He had promised that by February, he would provide to this House an information paper on the tea sector. We are now in April and it has not come yet. Maybe it would have provided a bit more information. Away from Zombo, there is a tea research station in Kyenjojo called Rwebitaba, which is pretty much non-functional yet it exists. The Government keeps allocating money there and there is not much coming out. We would like to hear from the Government on these issues. Therefore, I appreciate the committee for this report and join colleagues in demanding that the Government takes care of this situation. Pay these people because you told them to go there saying you would take care of them. Thank you.

Thank you, honourable. I now put the question that the report of the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries on a petition by Zombo Tea Nursery Bed Operators and Farmer’s Association on delayed supply of tea seedlings to farmers in the district be adopted. (Question put and agreed to.) Report adopted.

a D I a '1 PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA ;\tr $' 'i"'..:)'. / a FEb 2(i2tr l(lUi= lv i:',' ,t P.' tto x 7178 REPORT OF THI COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, AIIIMAL INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES ON A PETITION BY ZOMBO TEA NURSERY OPERATORS AND FARMERS' ASSOCIATION ABOUT DELAYED SUPPLY OF TEA SEEDLINGS TO FARMERS IN THE DISTRICT I t li L . _t_- \ \..r. I \i\.i$ .^ Office of ,n. Ct. February,2024 P r ent 7 .\-, .t --hrs<, N W i

a 1.O INTRODUCTION On 21st May 2023, Zombo Tea Nursery Operators and Farmers' Association petitioned the Rt. Hon Speaker of Parliament about delayed supply of tea seedlings to farmers in Zombo district. In accordance with Rule 3O (6) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, the Rt. Hon Speaker referred the Petition (Annex U to the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for consideration. 2.O BACKGROUND 2.L ZOMBO DISTRICT Zombo District is located in West Nile sub-region of Uganda in the north- western part of the country. It is approximately 70km south of Arua city and 382km north-west of Kampala. The district is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo to the south and west, Nebbi District to the east and Arua District to the north. Zombo District sits on a total land size of 939.7km2 of which 91olo is arable land, 5o/o dte. swamps and running water rvhile 4o/o are forests and forest reserves. The district is generally hilly and steep with its highest peak being Agu Hill in Abanga Sub-County. This has forced the population to cultivate hillsides at times without good soil management practices. The district has favourable soils for agriculture (red and loamy soils, dark loamy soils) (UDC, 2O2Il that have contributed to the steady and reliable supply of foodstuffs like lrish potatoes, maize, cassava, vegetables like tomatoes and onions across the district. Zombo has a bi-modal rainfall pattern, with peaks in April and August. Due to its altitude (1,532 metres above sea level), the tropical climate borders $ a a perate climate I tuil t=..5E\: -= # 1 illt,tft

?.2 TEA GROIIIING IN UGANDA Tea was first cultivated in Uganda in the early years of the 2oft century at the botanical gardens in Entebbe. The crop was a success and commercial cultivation started in the 1920s. Unfortunately, Uganda's tea industry was decimated by political upheaval in the 197Os. It was revived in the early 1990s due to availability of Commonwealth development funds, foreign expertise, and investment by Indian owned companies (Ahmed Tea London, 2or9l. In the FY 2022123, tea was Uganda's fourth largest agricultural export after coffee, fish and maize, earning the country over USD 90 million. This represented a 5.3% increase compared to FY 2O2l122. Tea has generated an average of 3.60/o of Uganda's export earnings over the last five years and is recognizsed to have a higher potential to contribute more to national revenue, employment and environmental conservation (NAADS, 2021). Over the past eight (8) years, tea has been fetching average earnings of USD 76 million for the country, having apexes at USD 94 million 2018. Tea estates produce about 54o/o of the tea in the country while the small holder tea growers contribute about 460/o of the total average. The industry employs close to 8O,OOO farmer households and supports 150,000 skilled and unskilled workers with about one million people directly deriving their velihoods from tea growing (NAADS, 2021). The traditional tea-growing districts in Uganda are: Mukono, Buikwe, Mubende, Mityana, Masaka in the central region; Kyenjojo, Kibale, Hoima and Kabarole in the western region; Bushenyi, Buhweju, Kanungu and Kabale in south-western Uganda. Recently, tea growing has expanded to new districts like Kisoro, Rubanda, Rukungiri, Sheema, Nebbi, Zombo, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Mitooma, Ru 2O2Ol. Kamwenge and Mbarara (NAADS, .l ffit^-- t "# ffili, -\ l. 2 --- j=.r t\S'rr '.i'-5r a 1 hk h

2.9 HrsToRY OF TEA GROWING rN ZOI0IBO Tea growing in Zombo was initially introduced in the 1960s. However, the economic activity collapsed due to the political turmoil of the 1970s. Following a request by the Alur King (Wimu ker Alur) to His Excellency the President to support tea growing in Abanga and other parts of the Alur Kingdom in order to improve the livelihoods of the people; Government re- introduced tea growing in the district during the FY 2OI3l2014 through the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) II Programme. This happened at an opportune time when Government had started the expansion of tea production in the western and south-western regions of Uganda. In 2014, tea nursery beds were set up by Giant Seeds Company in Zombo and Nebbi districts. The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) procured and distributed tea seedlings to the farmers for planting. ln 2016, nursery beds were established again in Zombo district by the sa.rne company and more tea planting was done in 20 17 and 20 18 in block farms. ln 2018, more nursery operators were invited to set up nursery beds across the district to increase the quantity of tea seedlings available to farmers. It was at that time that tea farmers' groups/cooperatives and nursery operators' organizations emerged, prompting the formation of the 300- member Zombo Tea Growers Cooperative Society Limited. However, procurement of tea seedlings by NAADS remained low, causing loses to nursery operators and this, coupled with the impact of COVID-19, negatively affected tea growing. In 2022, Government through NAADS, embarked on the process of distributing tea seedlings to farmers in 16 tea growing districts namely: Buhweju, Bushenyi, Mitooma, Rukungiri, Kisoro, Kyenjojo, Zornbo, Rubanda, Rukiga, Kabale, Kanungu, Sheema, Kikuube, Rwampara, and Kabarole. The main suppliers of these tea seedlings were Tea Development Agency Limited (UTDAL) and Zombo Nursery a Operators and Farmers' Associa POK& Vl- \ 3 :E# ffi** tS' d#*il/,' #

K 2.4 BACKGROUND TO THE PETITION Zombo Tea Nursery Operators and Farmers' Association was founded in 2OI9. It brings together over 200 local tea farmers, nursery operators and other value chain actors operating within the district. It is registered at the district as a community-based organisation. Since 2O2O, the association has supplied farmers with tea seedlings with support from Government through NAADS. On 21st September, 2022, Cabinet under Minute No. 340 (CT 2022) directed for a one-off procurement of tea and coffee seedlings for distribution to farmers during tlrre 2022 Season (September to December 20221. Under this arrangement, Government committed to procure and pay over two financial years (FYs) starting with FY 202312024, tea seedlings from verified nursery operators in the 16 tea growing districts mentioned above. On 28tt' September 2022, MAAIF wrote to the 16 district local governments (Annex 2) seeking details of verified tea seedling suppliers with tea seedlings in nurseries ready for planting, to be submitted not later than 5ft October, 2022. According to MAAIF, only six out of the sixteen districts namely Sheema, Rukungiri, Bushenyi, Kanungu, Mitooma and Buhweju were able to submit the required information within the designated timeframe of Sept 29th - lTtr:. Oct. 2022 under the initiation of NAADS (Annex 3). The Committee was informed that Zombo DLG provided information to MAAIF on the available and verified tea seedlings in the nurseries on 5ft October, 2023 but sought to defer procurement and distribution to March 2023 on account of the anticipated dry spell. However, this procurement was never effected despite various efforts to follow up. It is against this background that a armers Association petitioned the pply tea seedlings "ft.sctrc Zombo Tea Nursery Operators and Rt. Hon. Speaker concerning the to farmers in Zombo district. ) -- rr-- delayed/ to su '{rV::" 4 W ry <

,3.O TERIUS OF REFERENCE 3.1 PRAYERS IN THE PETITION The Petition had three prayers as reproduced below: 1) Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries to authorise NAADS in conjunction with Zombo DLG to procure the tea seedlings so that farmers are supplied within the shortest time possible. 2) The above demand should be met under the same arrangement like that of the year 2022 since it was just postponed due to the then approaching dry season. 3) In the event that the demand/requests are not fulfilled by Government, then the nursery operators and farmers should be compensated for loss of investment/business, alternative use of land, and time. 3.2 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE PETITION Arising from the prayers in the Petition and the circumstances leading to the Petition; the Committee formulated the following Terms of Reference: (i) To establish whether Government through NAADS had invited nursery operators to produce tea seedlings for distribution to farmers; (ii) To establish whether Government had committed to procure and pay for the tea seedlings on a later date as requested by the district; (iii) To establish the number of nursery operators who had responded to Government's invitation and the amount of tea seedlings they had raised; (iv) To examine any other matters incidental thereto. METHODOLOGY While considering the Petition, methods. & #ffir the Committee adopted the following ffi I a 4.1 Meetings Committee held meetings with the following: ment 5 a --.- -l-- - - fl L $.L'r,./ --# *

, . Zombo Tea Farmers and Nursery Operators Association o Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries o Uganda Development Corporation . Representative of the Alur Kingdom o Tea farmers of Zombo district o Community offering alternative land for a Government tea factory o Other tea nursery operators . Zombo Technical School named District Farm Institute (DFI-Zeu) also referred to as Presidential Initiative Skilling Center-Zeu offering land for a tea factory to a private investor The Committee invited the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development for a meeting but received no positive response. 4.2 Document Review The Committee reviewed and made reference to the following documents a a Presentation from Zombo District Local Government (DLG) Presentation from Zombo Tea Farmers and Nursery Operators Association National Agricultural Advisory Services) interventions in the tea sector attract Arab investors, 2O2l Uganda Development Corporation (2O2Il Consultancy Services for the Feasibility Study on the Proposed Zombo/Nebbi Tea Factory Presentation by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries o Ahmed Tea London (2019) Focus on Africa-Tea in Uganda o Divine Dimensions (2O l8l Zombo Project o National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) (2O2Ol Production Report a NAADS (2022l, NAADS to distribute Tea Seedlings in 16 Districts in Current Planting Season org (2022l. Zombo leaders give 10 acres of land for constructing a tea factory a 6 a & a ffi- ,1ffi' Tea 4 t a & I a ry# ffi: 5 he" r=r-< a

4.3 Field trip The Committee undertook a field trip to Zombo district to get first-hand information from key stakeholders to inform the Committee's Terms of Reference as stated in sub-section 3.2 above. 5.O FINDINGS, OBSERVATIONS AND RBCOMMENDATIONS 5.1 To establish whether Government through NAADS invited Zombo nurseqf operators to produce tea seedlings for distribution to farmers Following the 21st September, 2022 Cabinet directive for a one-off procurement of tea and coffee seedlings during t}lre 2022 Season, MAAIF wrote to the 16 tea-growing district local governments on 28ft September 2022 (Annex 1) seeking information on quantities of verified mature tea seedlings in nurseries at that time. The Committee established that between September 29u and October 17ft 2022, NAADS initiated and executed procurement for the verified tea seedlings under a delegated procurement arrErngement to the six district local governments that submitted information to MAAIF within the prescribed time-frame. ing to MAAIF, Zombo was not among the districts which submitted the required information within the designated timeframe and the district requested to defer procurement of their tea seedlings to the March 2023 planting season on account of the anticipated dry spell. mbo district, in compliance with MAAIF's letter, had in 4. vited verified tea u operators to provide information about the quantity of tea seedlings had in stock. In response to the district's invitation, 45 nursery a operators invested in the production of tea seedlings for sale to NAADS. The Committee established that NAADS sought guidance from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development about the possibility of carrying forward the procurement and delivery of seedlings by Zombo DLG. district received response despite several correspondences to that K 7 I -\- # ffi s a ,N

gn 6u' October, 2022 Zombo DLG submitted information to NAADS about the available tea seedlings in the nurseries without the demand data (Annex 41. Th.e Committee obserued that: (i) Zombo Distict Local Gouernment submitted data (on 6th October, 2022) of uerified tea nursery operators and quantitg of seedlings produced uithin tlrc specifted timeframe bA MAAIF (2gn September to 7Vh October, 2022) for consideration of pagment. Howeuer, there was no demand data as u)as reEtired by the Ministry of Agiatlture. (ii) Zombo DLG in anticipation of the dry spell, requested /VAADS to defer procurement of the tea seedlings to March 2023. Howeuer, bg the time of utriting this report, the Ministry of Finane had not responded to the request, leauing thc district and farmers in suspense. The Commlttee recommend.s that: i. The tuIAAIF/IilADS and. Zombo DLG should urgentlg wrtfg the aiable and otrergroutn seedllngs among the ortginallg aertffed, nursery operators. The Mlntstry of Flnance, Plannlng and. Economlc Deuelopment should urgentlg auail fund.s to pag all the wrtfied. nursery operators for the stitt uiable tea seedlings for dtstrlbutlon to fanners for planttng ots detennlned bg Zomho dtstrtct and lzlADs. iii. The Mtnistry of Flnance should compensate the ortgtnallg aertfled, tea nursery operators in Zombo uthose seedlings haae ouer-groutn and are no longer utable for plantlng. The Minlstry of Flnance should establlsh a. more efffcient mechanism to respond, promptlg to inqulrles from distrtct local gouernments in order to foster better coordlnatlon and. preaent unnecessary delags in utto.l agrlcultrtral processes. itc t $N , :, \- - - 4r^AFX '# ,ffil he.

F.2 To establish whether Government had committed to procure and pay for the tea seedlings In a Cabinet Minute 340 (CT 2022l., Government agreed to a one-off arrangement to procure and distribute tea seedlings across the 16 tea growing districts. The MAAIF in compliance with this Cabinet decision wrote to Zombo and the other 15 districts communicating Government's decision and instructing the districts to identify, verify and submit a list of tea nursery operators and the quantities of seedlings required by farmers in the district. Zombo DLG in response to the Ministry's communication proceeded to identify, verify and instructed the selected nursery operators (45) to raise over 10 million seedlings for its tea farmers. It further proceeded to communicate the list of verified nursery operators and their quantities of seedlings which totalled to 16,765,000 seedlings to the Ministry (Zombo DLG). However, this communication lacked the demand data and Zombo DLG requested the Ministry of Agriculture to defer the procurement to March, 2023 to coincide with the growing season. The Committee obserued that: O Gouernment, through utitten communication and otler documents plus testimonies from the farmers committed to pro@ffe, pag and distribute the to tlrc farmers. exclusion of Zombo from the 6 disticts lined up for pagment bg NAADS/ MAAIF utith tle claim that Zombo had not submitted their information was false. Tle decision to exclude Zombo from the list of disticts to be paid due to lack of demand data utas th.erefore not, in the Committee's opinion, justified. \iilfiLe Committee, houteuer, was not able to establish tle reasons for failure bg Ministry of Finance to communicate to Zombo DLG and MAAIF/ NAADS fts position on the to defer procurement to March, { t' ->' --: ?[}1 h[&"

2023. Tle Ministry of Finan@ did not respond to the Committee's inuitation to appear before it and respond to tlrc matter. The Commlttee recommand.s that Gotrcrnment should, proceed, to luffll Its commitment and. pag all wrtfied. tea seedllng suppllers uithin the current financlal gear. 5.3 To establish the number of nursery operators who had responded to Government's invitation and the amount of tea seedlings they had raised The Committee was informed that Zombo DLG had identified, verified and invited 45 tea nursery operators to produce/raise over ten million seedlings to supply 1,OO0 farmers/households over a period of 3 years at a unit cost of UGX 50O per seedling. In anticipation of an increased number of tea farmers and tea plantations and to support the development of the tea industry in Zombo, Government in 2016 offered to set up a tea factory in the district. b nursery gardens in Zombo I ii ,.ilt l\i i \", -,fi rffi1 k )-A I l rl .lt tF "l {-} #r ,t irz .J '-i -i .tA \ \ a t a $=y' r\m 10

The Committee obserued tlnt: (i) Zombo Tea Nursery Operators and Farmers Association is in exbtence and recognised bg the dbtrict leadership. (ii)The nurseries uisited bg tlrc Committee had tea seedlings at uarious leuels of maturitg and the unit price of a tea seedling was UGX 500. (iii) Howeuer, the Committee could not ascertain tle exact number of nursery operators, farmers and auailable tea seedlings. The Commlttee recommends tltat a Jolnt re-uerlff.catlon qerclse be conducted bg IvIAAIF/fiU.A,DS and. Zombo DLG of the tea nursery operators and. seedltngs prlor to ang pagmenB/compensation. 5.4 To examine any other matters incidental thereto. 5.4.1 Tea enterprise development in Zombo Establishment of a tea factory in Zombo Committee was informed that His Excellency the President of Uganda gave a directive for 10 acres of land to be allocated for a tea factory in Zombo. This factory was to be constructed by the Elite Group of lnvestors the United Arab Emirates. Out of the 8,675 hectares suitable for tea-growing in Zombo district, only about 400 hectares are planted. If all the suitable land was planted, the area would require a processing plant with capacity of 4,0OO kg (kilogram) or 4mt tric tonne) per hour A feasibility study by MAAIF to establish the viability of a tea factory in Zombo recommended that Zombo acquires a factory with a Crush, Tear and Curl (CTC) processing plant with a production capacity of 15,700 metric tonnes of green leaf annually, yielding an output of approximately 3,624 metric tonnes of processed tea leaves annually. cost of establishing a tea factory in Zombo was estimated at UGX 23 Bn. owever, according to Uganda Development Corpora ), only 15% (UGX 3.5 Bn) of the required amount been availed K i a t a ) --< I I \$'f h f* t|,,[ 'v ::-

. The Committee obserued that: (i) Establishment of a tea factory in Zombo has the potential to stimulate economic deuelopment in tle region through creation of emplogment opporfitnities, prouision of a market for matttre tea, technology transfer and pagment of taxes, among otlers. 6il me Alur Kingdom had offered 7O acres to Gouernment to construct a tea factory. Hou.teuer, progress could not be made because ownership of tlrc land. was being contested bg a piuate inuestor, Mukutano Industries. The contested land is connected to the national electicitg grid. (iii) In uiew of the aboue contestation, Zombo DLG and Zeu Communitg haue identified alternatiue piece land for a Gouerrtment tea factory which anttait sunteging, titling and transfer of ownership to tle district. (iu) Further, tle distict had inuited a priuate inuestor to set up a tea factory and allocated 5 acres at Zombo Technical Instihtte (District Farm Institute) (DFI-ZEU) also referred to as hesidential Initiatiue Skilling Center-Zeu for this pufpose. This land, houteuer, is get to be deueloped. The Commifree recommends that: (i) Goaernmcnt a;nd Zombo DLG should quicklg resolrre the issu e of of the land prouided bg the Alur Klngdom uthich is contested bg Mukuano Industries. fifl Zomho DLG should urgentlg follout up and complete the process of surtreg, reglstration, and, transfer of ounershtp of the land, aualled, bg the Zeu communttg for the tea factory. (iil) Conttngent on the antallablhtg of unencttmbered land., hoernment should, disburse ucx. 79.5 Bn to expedlte establlshment oJ a tea factory ln Zombo. -t-*- 1fu, 4 a a "-,,$ t4 F l+Mt hft"

5.4.2 Challenges faced by tea farmers in Zombo Tea farmers in Zombo are faced with challenges such as decline in tea prices due to a drop in demand on the world tea market arising from political and economic crises in the major tea consuming countries; unreliable and expensive power in West Nile region; inadequate knowledge and skilts by farmers in tea production; poor state of roads and road network, among others. Recognizing the importance of tea farming as an enterprise, the Committee observed the need for such challenges to be addressed. Th.e Committee obsented that t?rc success o/ the tea enterprise hinges on tle auailabilitg of markets for the produced tea. The Commlttee recommends that: i. Gouerttment should, *plore anenues to facllttate market cccess for tea farmers ln the country. ii. Ministry of Agrtculture, Anlma.l Industry and ?lsheries should. deoelop capacltg-buildtng lnitiatlues for local fanners in tea agronomg. These programnes should, focus on modertt fanntng practices, pest and. disease management and sustainable agrlcultttral technlques to maximize the gteld and qualttg of tea , produced.. 4. 7\u iil. Ministry of Energg and Mlneral Detrelopment should. expedtte \ completlon of the necessary electricitg infrastntcture so crs to connect West lfrle reglon to the national pouter grid in order to aaall rellable, sufficlent and affordable pouer. Gouernment should fa.st track upgrade of the Nebbt-Goolt-Patdha- Zombo-Zeu Road to bitumlnous standard. L r, la. , ffii \ t t .t .- 15 qsi\ s a #

. 5.4.1 Supply of tea seedlings in Zombo district The Government through NAADS Secretariat has been supporting the initiative for the development of the tea enterprise as a strategic intervention in Zombo district. The Committee was informed that since 2015, NAADS has procured up to 25,310,908 tea seedlings for distribution to farmers in Zombo district as shown below. Table 1: Tea seedlings support to ?.oabo s/N Financial Year No. of seedlings procured 1 2Or4 I 15 6,567,309 2 2ots / 16 1,5OO,oo0 3 2016117 (A) 3,610,O00 4 2016117 (B) 2,9L2,600 5 2Ot7 118 (A) 1,7OO,ooo 6 2ot7 118 (B) 1,900,000 7 2Or9 I 2O2O 2,5OO,oo0 8 2O2o l2t (Al 4,72l,OOO Total 25,31O,9O8 Source.' MAAIF presentation to the Commlttee The Committee commends the efforts of the Government in supporting the development of the tea enterprise in Zombo district. The substantial investment in the procurement of 25,310,908 tea seedlings from 2Ol4l15 to 2O2Ol21 is a significant step towards promoting agricultural development and livelihood im provement in the region. The Committee obserued that the leuel of inuestment is not commensurate utith the quantitg of tea plantations in Zombo. The Commlttee recomtttends that fi) MAAIF should, conduct a thorough assessmcnt of the utlllzation suruiaal rates of the distrlbuted tea seedllngs to ensu re thoI the beneficiarles are effecttuelg engaged, and that the otrerall I of the tea entetprise c $,i'li;" are being reallsed,. a 15 , -> ---< *

a v LIST OF ANNEXTS Annex 1: Petitionby zombo Tea Nursery operators and Farmers' Association Annex 2: l,etter from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries to 16 district local governments seeking details of verified tea seedlings in nurseries ready for planting Annex 3: Letter from NAADS to the Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Treasury about i. Progress of implementation of the Cabinet decision on procurement and distribution of tea seedlings in the earmarked district local governments ii. Request for guidance in relation to the 10 district local governments (Zombo inclusive) which did not meet the required procurement and submission deadlines as specified in the Cabinet decision Annex 4: Submission of tea verification report by Zombo DLG 1 ry \$-t t (t t N 18 4

'{ A,,"r I 7-()Illl(r'l'1.:.\ Nt'ttslilt\' ol't;tl,\'l'olts ,\l(D t';\l(rll':lts '\h5(t('l'\'l l(':' l' ,t I t l lnt h' l\t' h: t /'t't'i tt l,tl;tl,t! /r :r I.'rr lt,t.ltn't t r'tltlt' f)-"! "' :tl'v' l''' t'l l' t t I t I ttq ?023 THE RT HON. SPEAKER OF PARLIA Of THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA P O EOX 7t74. KArI'IPALA f'-' RE: PETITION ABOUT SUPPLYING TE --CdLINGS TO FARMERS IN ZOI''1BO DISTRICT zombo district is one of the tea growing districts in uganda. Tea nursery operators and fatmar'' have been part and parcel of the tea p.l".t development in Zombo district since the yeat zolti in quest for lhe much needed socio-economic transformation of lne a,€a as it is in other patts of Uganda. Millions of tea seedlings have been supplied to the farmers and over 450 hectarr:s of tea gardens planted with support from the government of Uganda through NAATJS secretariauowc. ln order to fully establish the tea gardens to procluce adequate and qualily green leaves there is need For continuous planting and gap filling of the gardens as tlte farnters rvait for the building of the tea processing facility (tea factory) by UDC' This has attracted privat'-: investments from the tea nursery op"ritot. by establishing nursery beds and the farmers [:y offering tand and preparing their gardens' Last year in septemb et 2oz2, as a way of addressing farmers' demand for tea seedlings tttc government through Ministry of Agriculture wrote to the district to verify and ascertain th'': quantity ol teaseeilings in ttre nurseries within Zombo district, (letter dated 28th septembu'r, ioU, iet FADl46l2OOt01).- (Copy available al MAAIF) on 5th october, 2022 Zombo district quickly responded and submitted tea nursery verification report tO the Ministry of Agricultu re and copied, among others, to NAADS Secretariat' ln tlteiir response, the district put a note that it was not appropriate to plant the seedlings at that timc as the long dry season was approaching. They requested that the planting should be allowed to start in March 2023 whichwas the beginning of rainy season for proper establishment of tiro tea croP. (Attached - annex 1) To dateinZombodistrict there are45 nursery operatofti who have produced over 10 million tea seedtings wh,ch can supply over 1,000 tea farmers or households over the next thrcc years. We the nursery owners and farmers have been accordingly informed abotti tiic gcvernment processes to procure tea seedlings and we had prepared ourselves to start serious activities in March this Year. ln March 2023, Zombodistrict, further, submitted request for tea seedlings to NAADS with tlt,r expectation tlrat the odilto nurseryoperators would be made and the farmers'demand wouid be fulfilled.- (Attached - annex 2) .^r &UA _v )- fD" f1v"'rvc- i re{w' ,;'"af\ ft Jrr*v---Ur i*ct[(fr, fa6O,t L ,^f' YJ*- ffi CamScanner

On April 2T,lhlsyear when fhe UDC Teamfrom Kampala came to present a new roadmap to tea faclory construction in Zombo to the King of Alur (ubimu Ker Atur) who offered land for the ,actory sito. the issue of continuous supply of tea seedlings to lhe farrners featured prominently' The stakeholders in the tea projecf are certainly disappointed by the break down in the continued supply ol lea seedlings to lhe ever waiting farmers. However, 1is now the monrh of May 2023 andthere is no indication that the seedlings will be orderedand the larmersare supplied with the planting materials. The district says they have done their parl andthe farmers should follow upwith thl relevant government offices' NAADS' on their pad, atenot making any coinmltment but are waiting for fresh instruction from 'above" il any, in orderto serve thI pelple of Zombo.They are also referring farmers to the Parish Development Model which, unfortunately due to the amount allocated per household and beneficiarysetection crileria,does not tr-it th" massive tea growing as an industry promoting tea a slrategic commo di$tcrop for agro-industrialization end increased export earnings' Please,note that the last time tea seedlings were supplied to the farmers in Zombo was in 2020 making a lapse of overtwo years. nnJif no tea seedtings are supplied to the farmers this yearrherewillbecolossal toss of money by nursery operators as the seedrings are overgrowing and the farmerswould have been disenfranchised from Partaking into the tea project and thus toss of their livelihood. Therefore,we the nursery operators and tatmets in Zombo district have resolved to petition your ot6* and requestinj tnat you weigh in this urgent matter. We need the following: - 1. Ministryof Agriculture (MAAIF) to authorize NAADS in conjunction with Zombo district to procu re tie tea seedlings so that farmers are supplied within the shortest time Possible as it is ruining' 2. The above demandshoutd be met under the same arrangement like that of late Iast year sinceitwasjustpostponedduetothethenapproachingdryseason. J. ln the event ttrai tne demandlrequests are not fulfilled by the government, then the nwsery operutots and farmersshould be compensated for loss of investments/business, allernative use of land and time' We trust and believe that expeditiouslY handled for the Thanks You. ,lulngiera GeoftreY CHAIRMAN - A772 c.c.MinislerofAgnculture,AnimallndustryandFisheries. c.c.MinlsterofFinance,PtanningandEconomicDevelopment c.c, Execulive Direclor, NAADS Secretariat' c.c. Members ol Parliament from Zombo District' this heartfelt petition and demands will be considered and benefit of the people of Zombo and Uganda as a whole' E CamScanner

Distribution Lisr. o Kisoro District s Kabale District e R.ubanda District a Rukiga Districr o Kanungu District o ltukungiri Disrrict .:, R.wampara District ; Mungamo District ., Sheema District , I(ikuube District ; Kyenjojo District . Kabalore District r Zombo District.

indicating that the delegated procurement worth UGX 40,484,267,200 had. he rn executed, the relevant documents are yet to be received by the Secretariat. ln contrast to the above, ten (10) District Local Governments comprising Kabale, Rukiga, Rubanda, Kisoro, Rwampara, Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kagadi, Kikuube and Zombo were unable to meet the required procurement and submission deadlines to enable NAADS Secretariat commence the procurement process. Some of them have since written to NAADS and Government Ministries requesting for authorization to carry forward the procurement and delivery of the seedlings to subsequent seasons of 2023 but we have not been in position to advise awaiting for clarification from your office and or cabinet. The indicative numbers of tea seedlings amongst the ten Districts as at the time of communication of the delegated procurement based on the verified tea seedlings is 33,944,957 tea seedlings estimated at UGX 13,577,982,800. The purpose of this letter therefore, is to: i. Update you on the progress of implementation of the Cabinet decision (and related guidance) on procurement and distribution of tea seedlings in the earmarked district local governments. ii. Present the matter regarding the inability of up 10 DLGs to meet the required procurement and submission deadlines as specified in the Cabinet decision and related guidance. iii. Seek your guidance regarding the expected feedback from the NAADS Secretariat to the ten (10) DLGs that failed to meet the required procurement and submission deadlines as specified in the Cabinet decision and. related guidance. Thank you Godfrey Mugisa Masereka Ag. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CC: The Rt. Honorable Prime Minister CC: Hon. Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) CC: Hon. Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries(MAAIF) CC: Hon. Minister of State Agriculture, MAAIF CC: Permanent Secretary, MAAIF CC: Permanent Secretary, MOLG

Procurerqent not initia ted 11 Kagadi I 500,000 731,000 31.10.22 Did not submit in time- Procurernent not initia ted L2 Kyenjojo 6 955,000 955,000 26.r0.22 Did not submit in time. Procurernent not initiated 13 Zombo 45 16,765,000 7.10.22 Differed procurernent to March 2023. Did not submit demand. Procurernent not initiated. t4 Kisoro 37 3,500,923 3,551,054 7.10.22 Did not submit demand in time Procurernent not initiated. 15 Kabarole 8 2,130,000 1, 386, 000 7.10.22 Did not submit demand in time. Procurernent not initiated. 16 Kikuube 1 450000 819,843 24.r0.22 Did not subrnit in time. Procurement not initiated TOTAL L89,7L7,339 L84,794,822

Anncx 1: SUMMARY OF VERIFIED TEA SEEDLINGS AND FARMER DEMANDS SUBMTTTED BY DISTRICT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS UNDER THE CABINET DEC r S r ON (OCTOBER 20221 q I 2 3 4 6 1 o I 10 1, t2 13 SNO District No. of Nur';ery operators No. Seedlings verified nurseries of tn No. of seedlings demanded Submission Date Remarks Bushenyi 92 23,240.300 23.240.300 t.07.22 Submitted in time. Procurement initiated. Buhweju 304 r03,246,988 101,210,668 t.07.22 Submitted in time. Procurement initiated Mitooma 3B 9.4 I r.428 9.4I1.428 t.07.22 Submitted in time. Procurement initiated Sheema i.007,802 i 200 000 Submitteci in time. Procurement initiated f .i0.27 Rukungiri 2 6 1.884,5 78 2,000.000 5.10.22 Submitted in time, Procurement initiated Kanungu 275 t 6.981.286 21,8)r,819 1.t0.22 Submitted in time, Procurement initiated Rukiga 5 3,1I0,000 2.873,000 26.r0.22 Kahale 4 2,808,800 4,83 5,650 3.11.22 Rwampara 2 171.318 r08,000 26.r0.22 Rubanda ).2 3.553,916 4.651,000 26.r0.22 Kagadi 1 500.000 731,000 31.10.22 Kyenjojo 6 955.000 95s,000 26.r0.22 Zombo 45 r 6,765,000 7.10.22 Kisoro 37 3.500,923 3,551,054 1.r0.22 Did not submit in time. Procurement not initiated Did not submit in time. Procurement not initiated Did not submit in tirne. Procurement not initiated Did not submit in time. Procurement not initiated Did not submit in time. Procurement not initiated Did not submit in time. Procurement not initiated Differed procurement to March 2023. Did not submit demand. Procurement not initiated. Did not submit demand. Pro ement t ,t I ,t. 14 init noI .t

We have short and long- term interventions. For the short term, they are saying our tea does not have the quality so we are going to see how to subsidise fertilisers such that our farmers can get fertilisers cheaply in the country. That is the remedy. Tomorrow, we have a meeting with Elite Agro, a United Arab Emirates Government company from Dubai that is going to establish five factories in the areas of Buhweju in Northern Uganda, we have Zombo and three other districts. Others are supposed to be in Kyenjojo, Sheema and others. This is the long term intervention. We are also establishing an auction market in the country instead of going to Mombasa to be graded the way they want. We want to have an auction market in our country since we have the quantities. Mr Speaker, the Government of Uganda is concerned and we shall handle this matter, as we have heard.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. In 2022, the Government, led by the Prime Minister, authorised the people of Buhweju, Kakumiro, Bushenyi, and Zombo; the tea suppliers to supply seedlings on credit in 2022. It is now 2024 and they are choking on loans. I am asking the Prime Minister; when will the Government pay these suppliers?

The nursery operators and farmers of Kakumiro, and even those of Zombo did not supply tea, because they wanted to have the tea planted during the season, so Zombo did not supply, because I have always seen Hon. Kwiyucwiny saying that they also now need to supply. Remember, when we came up with this strategy, the Government changed the policy. Before, we bought tea seedlings through National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), and we put all the money in one basket, that is the Parish Development Model (PDM), so that farmers can buy the seedlings themselves. We were here, and we agreed that let these people supply; Government would pay them when we get the money. We have not yet got the money, but when we get it, we shall pay these tea farmers.

No, he is proceeding extremely right. (Applause) If you heard me very well – and committee chairperson, this is why you need to correct your record. Your record says, “Report of the Committee on Education and Sports on field visit to appraise management challenges of Mbale School for the Deaf.” The moment your report is that way, it is provided for under Rule 34 of our Rules of Procedure whereby under 34(2), you are supposed to give a summary and then I will appoint a date for debate. However, later on, you told me that you were processing a petition. Clerk, help us and capture it as a petition and not a field visit report. Honourable colleagues, in the public gallery this afternoon we have councillors from Zombo District. They will be going back, allow me to introduce them now. (Applause) They are represented in Parliament by our very own Commissioner, Hon. Esther Afoyochan and Hon. Gabriel Okumu. You can see they are seated together matching. (Laughter ) They have come to observe the proceedings of this House. Please, join me once again in welcoming them. Thank you. (Applause) Committee chairperson, let us continue. For issues that have been overtaken by events, you do not need to go to them. Go to the prayers and capture issues that you feel we should capture here.

Thank you, honourable member. Honourable colleagues, in the public gallery this afternoon, we have students from Bugema University under the umbrella of Bugema University Students Association. They have come to observe the proceedings of this House. Please, join me in welcoming them. (Applause) You are always welcome. Honourable colleagues, for the record, when I was mentioning MPs from Zombo, I forgot Hon. Lawrence Songa, Member of Parliament for Ora County and also our very own, Hon. Catherine Mavenjina, Member of Parliament for the elderly. I mentioned Hon. Gabriel Okumu – he was seated with Hon. Esther Afoyochan. Honourable colleagues, I think we should quickly dispose of this report. It is a report that has a recommendation, which you have said is a strong one – saying we should review our refugee policy. What is the intention of closing our borders? Really, that should not be something for this House to handle at this stage. It involves a lot before you reach this kind of decision. I do not want us to break the news from here that Parliament has said: “Please, stop welcoming more refugees.” Such recommendations should be left to the Executive, after wide consultations with the international community. It is our obligation, under international law. You cannot stop someone who is running away from war from entering a country. During the debate, I hope a Member can raise the issue and we amend that recommendation. Hon. Christine Kaaya - I would like to, first, pick MPs from refugee-hosting areas. I have here the Member for Isingiro, the Member for Kisoro - we who are in Kampala are not refugees. (Laughter) You might declare me a refugee when you start saying “Kampala, Kampala”. (Laughter) We are here in Kampala, enjoying ourselves. Honourable colleagues, I will pick you; do not mind. I will start with the Member for Isingiro, Member for Kisoro and the Member for Karamoja. The whole of that line, apart from Hon. Judith Achan, is from West Nile and maybe Bugisu. So, decide among yourselves and agree on one person: I will pick one. I will pick one MP from each hosting area. I would like to have around five Members of Parliament and we conclude this, but I see around nine MPs from West Nile. So, I have picked one from Karamoja. Isingiro, you are for Ankole. I have picked one from Kigezi. I want to pick the Member for Kitgum for Acholi. Busoga, you do not have refugees. Let me pick these for now and then we see how it goes. Okay? For Kampala, it is Hon. Allan Ssewanyana who has many Eritreans. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. I take this opportunity to thank you for hosting Rev. Raphael p’Mony Wokorach of Nebbi Catholic Diocese. I also thank the honourable members who were there yesterday. My question is, the Speaker said we shall handle the question today and it is about health centres to be upgraded from health centres III to health centres IV. When Parliament appropriated Shs 20 billion for that purpose, 17 out of the 31 health centres III got the money, and the work is ongoing; they were upgraded. However, about 14 where Paidha Health Centre III is included, the funds have not been given to the district. I would also like to thank the Government for the ambulance. When the ambulance came, it was taken to Health Centre III and stakeholders are concerned. My prayer is, Mr Speaker, Government, through your able leadership, should help the people of Zombo District by fast tracking the release of the funds to enable Paidha Health Centre III to be upgraded to the level of health centre IV, as per the Government’s plan.

Thank you. I thank you for your passionate consideration for the people of Uganda, especially for bringing out facts on this people’s platform. The minister says that on Monday they are going to present a Cabinet Paper. However, if you recall, Mr Speaker, in the previous sitting, when they were about to bring the supplementary, they told us they were going to prepare a Cabinet Paper and that they would bring a supplementary on this Floor. I do not know whether he could clarify what happened and whether it is now factual that tomorrow, he is going to bring it up? Mr Speaker, the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (Industry) knows that the tea industry brings a lot of money into this economy, and it is dying in his hands. It is not only for Bushenyi or Ankole, but Kigezi, Central, Tooro, and now Zombo. Mr Speaker, I seek your indulgence that you allow us to bring a comprehensive motion on this matter, and we discuss it comprehensively such that it incorporates more than we can bring through matters of public importance so that the ministers can appreciate what is underlying and what they are negating here on the Floor. I salute you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, in the circumstances, I am going to hold a stakeholders’ meeting next week, and then I will be in touch with the Members of Parliament from the region. They will also attend and we will find a solution to this. However, the good news for the country is that through Elite Group; a Dubai-based company, we are setting up extra factories in Buhweju, Kigezi in Rukiga, Toro region, and Zombo. Some of these solutions can be helpful for the farmers but next week, we shall have a stakeholders’ meeting. Thank you.

On Tuesday when that issue of schools for people with disabilities is being handled, let the Minister of Education and Sports also update us on the same. Next item. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF UPGRADING THE NEBBI- GOLI-PAIDHA-ZOMBO-ZEU-WARR- VURRA-LIA-ODROMACAKU ROAD

Mr Speak - er, I am here to give a statement on the status of Nebbi-Goli-Paidha-Zombo-Zeu-Warr-Vurra- Lia-Odromacaku Road, which is 119 kilome - tres. This is a national road in West Nile. It con - nects the districts of Nebbi, Zombo and Arua. The road is an important international route used to access Uganda’s borders with eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is important for agriculture, trade and security purposes, providing access to the border areas near DRC.

11644 THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2023 Planned interventions on the road Mr Speaker, the feasibility study and detailed design for the upgrading of the road to bituminous standard was completed in 2017. The road was included on the list of roads prioritised for upgrading in the National Development Plan (NDP) III. However, due to the limited resources available in the medium- term expenditure framework, the initiation of the road upgrading works was not commenced. Mr Speaker, the Government has made efforts to secure financing for upgrading the road. The Nebbi-Goli (19km) section of the road was submitted to the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for funding. The preparation appraisal missions for the project are expected to be completed in the Financial Year 2023/2024. If approved by the financier, the works will commence in the Financial Year 2024/2025. The planned upgrading of Goli-Paidha-Zombo- Warr-Vurra (100km) section of the road project was submitted to the African Development Bank for inclusion in the Indicative Operation Pipeline (IOP), which includes the projects to be considered for funding in the period from 2022 to 2026. The works on the project will commence depending on confirmation of financing. The road is currently being maintained by UNRA as a gravel road under the UNRA Arua station. The Goli-Paidha-Zombo section of the road is currently maintained under a framework contract for periodic maintenance. The Zombo–Vurra–Arua section of the road is currently maintained under Force Account. Mr Speaker, in conclusion, the Nebbi-Goli– Paidha-Zombo-Warr-Vurra road is an important link and was prioritised for upgrading in the Third National Development Plan (NDP III). However, due to limited resources, the proposed upgrading of the road was deferred for implementation under future plans. The feasibility study and the detailed engineering designs for the road upgrading were completed and efforts are being made to get financing for the proposed upgrading. In the meantime, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) will ensure that the road is maintained in a motorable state to ensure continued connectivity in the region. Mr Speaker, on the same note, as you had earlier guided, I would like to make an additional response to the Mpondwe Bridge. This Mpondwe Bridge is after Bwera and we had a bridge which had been made using metallic culverts but these culverts were vandalised by our own who wanted scrap. We realised it later but we did emergency works last year and currently, we have come up with the designs of the concrete box culverts, which is 30 metres long with a high fill at a contract of Shs 1.7 billion. We have our contractor who was doing other projects in the region, that is, Armpass Technical Services Ltd, that is mobilising to start on the work and within a period of four months from now, that bridge will be finished. I beg to submit. Thank you.

11645 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2024 I want to give this additional information so that these stakeholders the minister mentioned - like the African Development Bank, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) based in Khartoum, and the people from Nebbi, Zombo, and Arua district or Vurra need to have a meeting to fast-track to see that we get a loan for this very important road. This area is highly - we call it actually the “food basket” for West Nile. It has a lot of coffee, the Government is promoting tea in that area; we have a lot of fruits, matooke - all these things are supplying the greater north. Related to that, we have many of the forest reserves; talk about the plantation forests. We have Lendu, Okavurero, Awang and Ossi. These are very important investments of the Government. In addition to those, we have two dams on River Nyagak. Since the road is in poor shape and the area is agro-based, it is now difficult for many people to benefit from agriculture. As a result, agriculture is not helping them. They have gone to environmental degradation and it is affecting two dams, that is, Nyagak I and Nyagak III. In fact, this is why you see Nyagak I is producing only 1.7 megawatts of electricity because of degradation. We need the road so that people can move away from environmental degradation. On the revenue side, Shs 3 billion is the estimated market in the DR Congo. With these four borders plus the three more potential borders, if they are open, we can generate a lot of money from there. Accidents on these roads are very many. Breakdown of vehicles moving on these roads is too much yet the cost of maintenance is very high. On the issue of health and emergency, the whole area does not have any referral hospital, apart from the regional referral hospital in Arua. If the road is in bad shape, how are we going to rescue our people in case of an emergency? You may recall that in 2021, when Zombo was attacked two times by bandits from the DR Congo, one of the reasons was - they tried all other alternatives but there was no market for their produce; so they were tempted to go and join those people in the DR Congo. We quelled that one because we never wanted it. But even the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) could not maintain or contain the bandits because there were no roads to cross with those machines. There are no bridges. Therefore, we need that road. This road was pledged by the President in 2010. He repeated it throughout all the elections. We have reminded him in writing and also verbally. In conclusion, the market is available if we can develop this road. From Zeu, for example, to the border of the Central African Republic, is only 750 kilometres. Imagine the market we are going to tap into in that area. Therefore, my prayer remains that we must fast track the loan with the African Development Bank, and the loan with BADEA so that we can do this very important road. The money we shall generate there will help to do internal roads in Kiboga, Nakaseke, Luwero, and other parts of Uganda. This is a very important road for the security and development of Uganda. I thank you.

11646 THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2023 money for this road. If we do not put our feet down in this House, we are going to continue complaining about this road that has killed very many women from northern Uganda because the majority of northern Uganda picks food from Zombo but because of this road, women are dying every day on that road. Yet, the ministry does not have any form of interest. They are not bothered, probably because where they come from, the roads are better. I want us to look at Zombo from a perspective that this is a district that relies heavily on agriculture; nothing else. God gave us fertile land. Only infrastructure should not frustrate my people to remain poor. I speak this with a lot of pain because I know that every person in Zombo today is watching and wants to get a solution to this. We implore you, Mr Speaker, as Members from Zombo, to help us come in so we can fast-track this loan. If we can borrow for every other thing, why not for the road of Zombo?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, as a historical businessman, I would like to say that we have lost a lot of money in terms of the wear and tear of the vehicles. Our people have always fetched low prices of coffee because of inaccessibility to the area. Above all, we are near the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is endowed with numerous resources. So, we actually lose benefitting from resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo because the people now use Arua, which has now become a city. Secondly, I would like to – my colleagues did not mention about the bridges. In 2017-2018, Government embarked on the six bridges along this road. The Wariki Bridge was made complete with half a kilometre on both sides. When we came to this Parliament in 2021, Odrua Bridge was launched, but it was only cleared and it was not worked on. We have four other bridges which completely - money was released and when we investigated, they said money was misappropriated. We would like to ask the Government to be sympathetic to the Alur people. Many problems which my colleagues have enumerated have actually caused our people to be poor. The poor education – if I talk of matooke , the matooke from West Nile, from Zombo is slightly bigger than the matooke we get from Ankole. I have worked in Ankole and I have worked also in Zombo. We would like the road to be made so that we also begin supplying the matooke here in Kampala. I thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I would like to join my neighbours from Zombo and Nebbi, to make a comment about this road. When we first came to Parliament, I remember when the late Rt Hon. Jacob Oulanyah was still alive - May his soul rest in peace. He made a comment here that this is one road where he sees a human being walking on foot, being stuck, and has to be removed by other people. That day he said, while he is in this chair, this is one road he wants to see tarmacked and he personally went there, got stuck, and felt the experience himself. Mr Speaker, the people of West Nile - I do not want to narrow it to one place - and that is why Hon. Songa said that it is the region that supplies food to the greater part of West Nile. As Hon. Afoyochan said, we have lost lives on that road. When the minister was saying that UNRA is maintaining that road, if you went there now, you cannot even believe that that is a national road. When it is raining, people get stuck, and they have to be there for days, even for a week. When you are carrying things like tomatoes or ripe bananas, they rot. We are here saying we want to make Uganda better, and we want to eradicate poverty. Mr Speaker, if that road is not worked upon, it is like we are not here. We sit here to appropriate and this road is not worked upon. It is very unfortunate. Minister, I think you are just romancing your words, with due respect; there is no answer you have given us. We have not got clear feedback. Before we came to Parliament, I remember last term, they even said contracts were already given for this road. When we came back, we started asking - we have been meeting the Minister of Works and Transport. We started asking, where are the copies of these contracts, you said you gave. Up to today, we have not seen them. So, do not take people for granted. Ugandans –(Member timed out.)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I join the Members of Parliament from Zombo - actually, the President calls that road a security road. Relatedly, I will take you to the road of Katrini to Nyadri. This is a UNRA road just like the one of Koboko. This road was worked on by UNRA more than three years ago but right now it is impassable. I have moved to the UNRA office in Arua and the one of Kampala. They told me the design is ready, it is in the computer, but there is no road. This road passes my home.

Yes, on the roads; the issue of Kampala - Jinja Express Way, Nebbi-Paidha-Goli-Zombo Road next week. Hon. Atkins, do you have a procedural matter?

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise on a matter of national importance. This is the fifth time I am talking about this issue and today, I will go ahead and lay a document. This is about the policy of linking all our revenue border posts to tarmac roads. This will help to generate a lot of revenue for Uganda, and with that money generated at the border posts, we shall be in a position to do internal roads in Uganda, even if they are of less economic value. The issue is, in my hand, I have the detailed engineering design for tarmacking Nebbi- Goli- Paidha-Zombo-Zeu-Warr-Vurra-Lia- Odramacaku road, which is on the Congo border, covering many districts in West Nile. This very road is generating a lot of money for Uganda, but none of the border posts, with the exception of Vurra, is linked to a tarmac road, yet, we have a high potential of generating money from the Congo market. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when you came to Paidha, we raised this issue and you confirmed that that area is very productive and it should have access to markets. Therefore, the feasibility study and detailed engineering design were done in March 2018 and I have been pursuing this. We are wondering why this road is not prioritised and budgeted for so that we can generate more money for this country. My prayers are: 1. That the Minister of Finance, through the Prime Minister, should update this House on the progress made in pursuing money for tarmacking this road from BADEA, the Arab bank based in Khartoum. 2. The Government should find money, in this budget, so that we can work on that road to generate more money for the country. 3. There were two bridges that were done on the road; Wariki Bridge and another in Vurra. We want the minister for works to come and update this House on why the projects stalled, yet there are seven other bridges to be done. 4. Nebbi-Vurra Road, there is a road from Panyimur to Pakwach, along the Nile, which is a tourism and security road. We pray that it be included as an oil road

Mr Speaker, I beg to lay this report of the consultancy services for feasibility and detailed engineering design of selected national roads, Lot 2 and Lot 4: Nebbi-Goli-Paidha-Zombo-Zeu-Warr-Vurra- Lia-Odramacaku Road. I beg to submit.

Madam Speaker, I beg to designate the following Members to the Committee on Public Accounts (Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises): 1. Hon. Jane Bainomugisha - Ibanda; 2. Hon. Richard Gafabusa - Bwamba County; 3. Hon. Charles Bakabulindi - Workers’ Representative; 4. Hon. Josyline Kamateneti - Ntungamo; 5. Hon. Gerald Nangoli - Elgon North County; 6. Hon. Martin Muzaale - Buzaaya County; 7. Hon. Linda Irene - Fort Portal City; 8. Hon. Dononzio Kahonda - Ruhinda South County; 9. Hon. Ferigo Kambale - Kasese Municipality; 10. Hon. Pascal Mbabazi - Buwekula County; 11. Hon. Mariam Naigaga - Namutumba District; 12. Hon. Alex Brandon - Kagoma North County; 13. Hon. Alfred Edakasi - Kaberamaido County; 14. Hon. Benard Sekyanzi - Budyebo County; 15. Hon. Esther Afoyochan - Zombo District; 16. Hon. David Karubanga - Kigorobya County; 17. Hon. Dan Atwijukire - Kazo County; 18. Hon. Mutono Lodoi - Butebo County; 19. Hon. Thembo Mujungu - Busongora County South; 20. Hon. Robert Kasolo - Iki-Iki County; 21. Hon. Peter Okeyoh - Bukooli Island County; and 22. Hon. Herbert Tayebwa -Kashongi County. Madam Speaker, I beg to designate.

Thank you, Hon. Muhammad, for those who are asking for the number, there is a slot. Honourable members, in the public gallery this afternoon, we have a delegation of Alur-Zombo Connect Youth and Dir ber Women’s Group from Zombo District. They are represented by Hon. Esther Afoyochan, the Commissioner, Hon. Songa Biyika Lawrence and Hon. Okumu Gabriel. Please, stand up. That is the team from Zombo. You are most welcome and thank you so much for coming to this House to be with your good Members of Parliament; please, bring them back. (Applause) They are very good Members. Hon. Biyika, make sure that you support our people and they must bring you back. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF LAND OWNED BY GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

t REPORT OF THE COMMTTTEE ON PUBLTC ACCOUNTS (COMMISSIONS, STATUTORY AUTHORTTIFS & STATE ENTERPRTSESI ON THE REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY SERVICESFOR FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 3OTH JUNE, 20.22 AND OTHER MATTERS s/N NAME CONSTITUENCY SIGNATURE 1 Hon. Ssenyonyi Joel - C/Person Nakawa West lS=-a 2 Hon. Akello Lucy - D/CP DWR Amuru 3 Hon. Lagen David Agago County 4 Hon, Mbwatekamwa Gaffa Igara West County 5 Hon. Afoyochan Esther DWR Zombo 6 Hon. Anywar Riclry Richard Agago West County 7 Hon. Acan Joyce Okeny PWD National 8 Hon. Achan Judith Peace DWR Nwoya x.-+ 9 Hon. Akampulira Prossy Mbabazi DWR Rubanda 10 Hon. Atwijukire Dan Kimosho Kazoo County 11 Hon. Bakkabulindi Charles Workers Rep t2 Hon. Gafabusa Richard Muhumuza Bwamba County --'f', -.-t, 13 Hon. Mugabi Muzaale Martin Bluzaaya County t4 Hon. Ssekikuubo Theodore Lwemiyaga County 15 Hon. Abigaba Cuthbert Mirembe Kibale County 16 Hon, Okumu Gabriel Okoro County 1 I ,T$' -t@-

Thank you, Mr Speaker. On the coffee, I am on record, even in this House: I come from a coffee-growing district and we grow Arabica Coffee in Zombo. I have 1,184

Much obliged, Madam Speaker. I will use fewer minutes since a lot has been dealt with in the previous debates. My concern is on the first question from Hon. Zijjan, related to a single sign language interpreter in the courts of law. I appreciate the Prime Minister for supplying an honest response namely that there is a single person from Zombo to Kisoro. If anywhere in between Zombo and Kisoro, there is a court sitting requiring an interpreter, we will have to make an adjournment until somebody travels to Kaabong, Masaka or Nakasongola and we now know the causes of the huge case backlogs in our courts. Rt Hon. Prime Minister, you needed to give the Member hope. As the Prime Minister, take note and inform the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs that there is a problem in the Judiciary. A single person is not acceptable; it only happens in Uganda. When that person is sick – he is indisposed – in one way or another,

R.EPORT OF THE COMMITTTE ON PIIBLIC ACCOUNTS (COMMISSIONS, STATUTORY AUTHORITIES & STATE ENTERPRISESI ON THE REPORT OF AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE FINANCIIT STATEMENTS OF NATIONAL MEDICAL STORES FOR FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 3OTX JUNE, 2022 I s/N I{AME CONSTITUENCY PARTY SIGIiIATURI I Hon. Ssenyonyr Joel - C / Person Nakawa West NUP 7w "-*4\ 2 Hon. Akello Lucy - D/CP DWR Amuru FDC lEmutr 3 Hon. Lagen Davrd Agago County NRM 4 Hon, Mbwatekamwa Gafta Igara West County NRM 5 Hon. Afoyochan Esther DWR Zombo NRM 6 NRM 7 Hon. Anywar Rrcky Rrchard Hon. Acan Joyce Okeny Agago West Countlr PWD Natronal NRM 8 Hon. Achan Judrth Peace DWR Nwoya NRM 9 Hon. Akampulrra Prossy Mbabazr DWR Rubanda NRM 10 11 Hon. Atwijukrre Dan Kimosho Hon. Bakkabulindr Charles Kazoo County Workers Rep NRM NRM 0: t2 Hon. Gafabusa Rrchard Muhumuza Bwer-mba County NRM '-/.- .t' 13 Hon. Mugabi Muzaale Martin Buzaaya Counlv NRM t4 Hon SSekrkuubo Theodore Lwemryaga Counlv NRM Hon Abrgaba Cuthbert Mirembe 15 KrbaLe County NRM Hon, Okumu Cabnel t6 Okoro Countv NRM Kasese Munrcrpalrty NRM t7 Hon Kambale Fengo (New ) -.::'b

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOT]NTS (COMMISSIONS, STATUTORY AUTHORITTF,S & STATE ENTERPRTSESI ON THE REPORT OF AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF I(AMPALA CAPITAL CITY AUTHORITY FOR FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 3OTI{ JI'NE, 2022 s/N SIGNATURE NAME CONSTITUENCY PARTY 1 Hon. Ssenyonyi Joel - C/ Person Nakalva West NUP 2 Hon. Akello Lucy - D/CP DWR Amuru FDC 3 Hon. Lagen Davrd Agago County NRM 4 Hon, Mbwatekamwa Gafla lgara West County NRM 5 Hon. Afoyochan Esther DWR Zombo NRM 6 Hon. Anvrvar Ricky Richard Agago West County NRM 7 Hon. Acan Joyce Okeny PWD National NRM 8 Hon Achan .Judrth Peace DWR N',r'ova NRM 9 Hon. Akampulrra Prossy Mbabazr DWR Rubanda NRM 10 Hon. Atwij ukrre Dan Krmosho Kazoo Coungr NRM 11 Hon. Bakkabuhndr Charles Workers Rep NRM (ffi+- t2 Hon. Gafabusa RLchard Muhumuza Bwamba County NRM 13 Hon. Mugabr Muzaale Martin Bvzaaya County NRM t4 Hon. SSekikuubo Theodore Lwemiyaga County NRfitr J I Hon. Abigaba Cuthbert Mrrembe Kibale Countv NRM 16 Hon, Okumu Gabriel Okoro County NRM t7 Hon. Kambale Ferigo (New ) Kascse Municipality NRM

Madam Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity to pay tribute to Justice Stella Arach-Amoko, as a lady hailing from Nebbi District. I want you to remember that in the last statistics from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the number of children who go from primary seven to secondary school is only 12 per cent in West Nile and eight per cent in Acholi. I believe that Lady Justice Stella Amoko was a special one. If I take the Greater Nebbi, which comprises Pakwach, Nebbi and Zombo, we count her among the first five ladies who attained university education. (Applause) She did this without the 1.5 points, which she herself contributed to in discussing, to ensure that girls are promoted in education. Members have talked about her profession. I do not want to go there because it is very clear how she grew in her profession and to this level, it is a clean record; a record, which speaks for itself. So, I want to speak about her as a special person with her intelligence, humility, passion, openness and beauty. Many times, when we met in many places, people would ask, “Who is that? Who was she?” and I would proudly say, “You know, she is a lawyer, an attorney, a Judge and Justice”. I would add, “She is from Nebbi” because she raised our flag up. As a woman of that calibre, we cannot take that for granted. She was a light and path for many of us. When I later joined the university, they used to tell me, “Be like Stella Arach”. I had not known her, but when I got to know her, I then thought, “This is a person I could be like if I work hard.” She was one of the first women leaders in the Nebbi community. She is, of course, the first Justice from the greater Nebbi. She has been there for women, children and girls. She is always out to help with advice, and even materially. She was an open-minded person. She would always like to be there for you. I want to pay tribute and would like to, on behalf of the greater Nebbi community, to say that we have lost a person, but this should also open our eyes that we can work hard and be better citizens of this country. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

8760 BUDGETARY PROPOSALS & ESTIMATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023/2024 263) Vote 934: Yumbe District – Shs 42,937,851,000 264) Vote 935: Zombo District – Shs 22,920,039,000

Is the motion seconded? (Members rose _) Okay, it is seconded by the Minister of State for Bunyoro Affairs, Hajjat, Hon. Obigah, the honourable Member for Ntoroko, Hon. Avur, the Member for Army, Rose, Hon. Odur Jonathan, Hon. Aogan, Budu, Nsereko –(Laughter) - Wilson, Zombo, Xavier – okay, seconded by the Whole House and the honourable Woman Member for Masindi; also known as the Queen Dancer. (Laughter) Would you like to speak to your Bill?

How much money do you collect from the unused funds? We have another point of clarification from Zombo.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank you for this opportunity. I send my condolences to His Excellency the President, the country, Parliament, northern Uganda and to the family. I recall that Hon. Macodwogo was a happy man, a gentleman, a calm person and took decisions in a cool manner. In 2000, when some rebel activity took place in Zombo, he asked me, “Why have you not told me? Why did you not let me know? I would have come to support and teach those people a lesson.” I did not know the origin of his name at that moment and that is when he told me how he earned it; how now we are free to move without convoys, like the Members before have already spoken. On a social level, he presided over my daughter’s wedding and I attended his introduction to his wife in Arua; he landed in a helicopter. I told him that Arua would never forget him and his wife would never leave him because of that. He laughed, but he was very happy all the time.

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Thank you, Mr Speaker. First of all, I want to add my voice to thank the chairperson for this committee. One of the submissions made by the chairperson that has really impressed me is the issue of farmers who distributed seedlings in the West Nile region, but have never been paid. They distributed coffee seedlings. When the chairperson was reading the names of the farmers in the different regions, West Nile - especially the people from Nebbi District and Zombo District – was not mentioned. Therefore, it is my prayer that as we sit here, we include those areas so the seedling producers are paid their arrears. Thank you.

Thank you very much right, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the chairperson for the report presented. In Zombo, particularly - I will not talk for West Nile - in every village, there is a football club. At national level, we have two clubs: Paidha Black Angels and Paidha United. However, Government has not invested in tapping into the energies of these youth. These clubs are funded locally. I would like to request the government to have a holistic approach to our problems. For example, in 2018, we had an insurgency where the youth combined and attacked a UPDF barracks. In Karamoja, we are crying that there is cattle rustling. We would like the Government to tap into the energies of the youths so that they become friends of the Government. If this is done, for sure, we shall not have cattle rustling and insecurity will end in this country. I would like to implore the Government to pay attention and prioritise sports for the youths who are the majority in our country. I thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues to thank the honourable minister, but most importantly, the UPDF, for doing a wonderful job. It is important that we give them the support they need to continue ensuring the safety and security of the citizens. We are all aware that last year, the DRC joined the East African Community. That is a very virgin area for Uganda, well aware that the DRC creates a lot of opportunities. It is a country with a huge population of about 90 million people and there is a lot that Uganda can benefit from the DRC. Of course, we know that we can never have peace in Uganda without having peace in the neighbourhood. Therefore, it would be important to begin to strategically think of how Uganda can take advantage, given this new environment that has been created by the DRC joining the East African Community. As we pursue that, there are already a lot of activities going on between Uganda and the DRC, including our people doing business there. I would like to give you an example: for the last several months, the people of Zombo, who do a lot of business in the DRC, cannot move freely. We have seen pictures and complaints where trucks were lined up for over two weeks and commodities are getting rotten on the road. I think that as we secure the safety of our people, we also need to see how we can begin to put some of this infrastructure to support the people to do meaningful business. I thank you.

6958 SECTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT d) Be healthy and willing to undergo medical and physical tests. e) Have no criminal record and this proof of good citizenship was LCI and DISO signatures and recommendations. The quotas were distributed as follows: a) 8,400 were shared nationwide based on the district population size. b) 1,000 were mechanics and drivers. c) 600 were scientists qualifying to join the Air force. d) 100 Medical personnel e) 100 brass band musicians f) 50 specialised sportsmen and ladies The committee findings The committee observed that the recruitment covered 146 districts and the recruitment plan covered 134 districts. The 12 districts were accommodated within their former districts, since their district headquarters were not yet established. Quotas allocated to each district were based on the Uganda Bureau of Statistics population data of 2020. On this note, districts like Mitooma, Sheema, Rubirizi, Bushenyi and Buhweju had their recruitment centre at Bushenyi District Headquarters, which was their mother district as well as Greater Mbarara of Rwampara, Isingiro, Ibanda and Mbarara City and Mbarara District as well. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the recruitments were done on zonal levels. For instance, the UPDF recruited a total of 163 people from the districts of Nebbi, Zombo and Pakwach. Here the recruitment centre was in Nebbi. All those that attended were recommended by LCIs and DISOs. Nebbi District was a recruitment centre hosting the other two districts. Despite their quota being 57 for Nebbi District alone, 163 recruits were recruited at the zone. While recruitment is not based on tribe, most of the recruits that came from Nebbi were the Alur, as per their identity cards. The committee was informed that a total of 195 people were recruited from Tororo District and most of their documents were verified by LCI chairpersons of various villages of applicants to ensure that they had no criminal record - and not necessarily to prove their ethnicity, tribe or place of abode. Attached are the copies of IDs and letters of recommendation; letters from LCs and recommendations by GISOs as well. However, this was misunderstood to mean proof of nationality. The committee recommends that LCs and the general public should be sensitised on recruitment procedures and guidelines, in accordance with the UPDF Act of 2005. Advertisements should be clear, easy to understand and should be published in all local newspapers and local radios for wider coverage. There were alarming numbers of forged academic documents and the Uganda national identity cards. Recruits who did not have national IDs, but had already applied were not allowed to use their national identification numbers because it was difficult to attach the face to the NIN. Verification of all other documents required more time and finances, which had its own limitations. The recruitment period should be long enough to allow time to verify all the required documents by the relevant Government institutions and agencies. The national identification numbers should be allowed as long as their genuineness can be verified. The recruitment process should be financed to undertake most of the required activities to avoid haphazard work. The recruitment was done for all Ugandans, as long as they had national identity cards and their LCI or GISO or DISO confirmed that they had the required documents verified by LCIs, DISOs, GISOs, as proof of no criminal record. The committee recommends that there should always be proper scrutiny or vetting of these

Honourable minister, Yumbe-Zombo Road has been “under procurement” from the beginning up today. At least, give us a promise on that road – do you have information? I hope you are not a member of the committee.

Thank you. Honourable minister, I hope you are taking notes. You heard the issue of Yumbe-Koboko-Zombo Road.

6740 STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT The worst performing entities in this regard in terms of absorption capacity were Hoima City at 30 per cent, Kitgum Municipal Council at 36 per cent, Gulu City at 36 per cent and Masaka City at 37 per cent while those that absorbed 100 per cent of their releases were Arua City, Kitagwenda District Local Government, Terego District Local Government and Madi- Okollo District Local Government. (i) Cost of service in local governments The Auditor-General’s report highlighted the amount of resources spent on non-core service delivery activities such as employee costs and transfers to other units like subcounties, schools and health facilities. These amounted to Shs 1,101.75 billion, equivalent to 74 per cent of the expenditure made by the entities. In other words, on average, the Government spent three shillings on each shilling for outputs that directly affect service delivery. The entities with the highest cost of administration of over six and above, include Masaka at eight, Nakasongola at seven, Gulu City at seven, Bundibugyo at six, Mbale City at six, Kiboga at six, Mpigi at six and Arua City at six, while the most efficient local government was Kalangala and Obongi District Local Governments at 0.4 per shilling for output service delivery. (ii) Local revenue performance of Financial Year 2020/2021 The audit reports for the 60 entities reported on indicated that some local governments’ local revenue was not reported on, well aware that this is a core source of revenue for the functioning of the district councils. This denied the councils facilitation to supervise and monitor the works of local governments. These local governments included Mitooma District, Nakasongola District, Kyankwanzi District and Lamwo District. Mr Speaker, details of these are provided in Annex one. Overall, the local governments underperformed on local revenue, registering revenue underperformance of Shs 30.4 billion of the target of Shs 68.248 billion, translating into local revenue performance of only 56 per cent. The local governments that performed dismally were Kole District, Soroti City, Zombo District, Kitgum Municipal Council and Moroto District Local Government. (iv) The performance of salaries, gratuity and pensions The report of the Auditor-General highlights the planned salaries, gratuity and pensions by the entities for the financial year. The reports overall indicated that Shs 632.75 billion was approved for salaries, gratuities and pensions at the close of the financial year. And at the close of the financial year, Shs 610.543 billion was availed to pay salaries, gratuities and pensions. However, only Shs 571.3 billion was actually absorbed by the entities, causing a return of Shs 38.6 billion to the Treasury, indicating underperformance of 6.3 per cent in the budget item. Mr Speaker, the committee made observations and request Members to look through those observations. I will take you directly to recommendations: The committee recommends that – i. The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development accounts for the under-release for funds to the local governments. ii. Accounting officers under whose supervision local governments fail to utilise funds released to them be held personally liable. iii. entities whose cost of administration was above six times the cost of output service delivery be subjected to further investigations to ascertain the source of the abnormality in the operation cost of the local government.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. When you called Zombo, we all got up. Thank you for remembering me. I would like to thank the chairperson for the report. However, I would like to ask the august House to particularly pay attention to our embassies abroad because if we have good embassies, which will promote the image of the country, even our agricultural produce will be able to fetch good prices on the world market. Today, I would like to inform the House that because of our poor marketing, coffee prices are at a free fall at the global stage. Six months ago, the price was at approximately Shs 12,000 in Zombo, but today, it is at about Shs 7,000. The House should give our Missions priority in terms of budget allocations. On their part, they should also work for the people to make sure that our produce fetches better prices. I beg to submit, Madam Speaker.

6379 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 23 NOVEMBER 2022 is because people do not have livelihoods; something to survive on. So, it is very important. Secondly, many women organisations or organisations that are promoting gender-based issues are getting a lot of funds from around the world, but what percentage is going to the rural woman in Zombo? The figures are in trillions of shillings, but whatever goes to the grassroots is very little, and that it is one root cause of gender-based violence. Let us avoid corruption so that we can address this up to the grassroots and empower our people. I appreciate the chairperson of UWOPA and all the women; let us work together and see that even in our budget, priority is given for socio- economic empowerment. And that can only come if we put our little money in the Budget for income-generating activities to raise more revenue to fund some of these initiatives. Thank you very much.

6348 In northern Uganda, we have Abim, Adjumani, Agago, Alebtong, Amolatar, Amudat, Amuru, Apac, Omoro, Arua, Dokolo, Gulu, Kaabong, Kitgum, Koboko, Kole, Kotido, Lamwo, Lira, Maracha, Moroto, Moyo, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Nebbi, Nwoya, Otuke, Oyam, Pader, Pakwach, Yumbe, Zombo, Obongi, Terego, Karenga, Kwania, Madi-Okollo, Nabilatuk, and Obongi. In Western Uganda, we have Buhweju, Buliisa, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabu, Bushenyi, Hoima, Ibanda, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Kabarole, Kagadi, Kakumiro, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kasese, Kibale, Kiruhura, Kiryandongo, Kisoro, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Masindi, Mbarara, Mitooma, Ntoroko, Rubanda, Rubirizi, Rukiga, Rukungiri, Sheema, Kikuube, Kazo and Rwampara. Madam Speaker, those are the areas that will be covered by the project.

Madam Speaker, I rise to give more information on the issue of Pakwach. This comes at a time when His Excellency the President is supposed to be in Zombo District tomorrow for the coronation anniversary. If the President were to use the road today, I am sure he would never make it to Zombo District. I am saying this because we need to give particular attention to the roads in West Nile, especially in regard to the fact that we have talked continually. I am grateful that we have another source of transport and that is air. Otherwise, my people would wait and the President would never arrive because of the state of the road. I am also hopeful that as he goes there tomorrow, we shall have some clear information from him regarding this issue. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

How about Zombo road?

I know about Zombo road. His Excellency, the President directed that we work that road. The challenge is still what my people did yesterday - Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises team is here and you heard what Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) told you yesterday; it is lack of funds. We would be doing the repairs now for emergencies - I saw Hon. Rwemulikya crying about the road network there. Madam Speaker, not that we do not want to work on the roads, but we do not have money. I will just be as blunt as that; the money is not yet available. If we get the release, we shall work on the roads. Yesterday, UNRA told the committee that the debt we owe contractors who are supposed to be maintaining these roads is Shs 585 billion. The solution here is that we need the money so that we are able to work on the roads.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me a chance. I know Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala is a good servant of this country. I also know he is working under the delegation of the President. Madam Speaker, when you talked about Zombo, I remembered the declaration by the President in 2017, when he wrote letters telling the Ministry of Works and Transport, the ministry of finance and UNRA to work on specific roads, which are critical to this Government, including the tourism roads. We are taking loans for other issues, yet, those letters have since become redundant. Can we know what happened to those letters the President wrote, giving those roads to specific companies for action? Two, if those letters are there and the companies have failed to work, can’t we get concessional loans and work on these roads?

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I have a very serious concern along the line of coffee and tea. We had been pestering and putting pressure on the finance minister to write a letter to UCDA and NAADS, giving a go-ahead that the nursery operators who are certified can now supply to farmers. In my district of Zombo, we grow Arabica coffee and tea. We have 5.1 million coffee seedlings. We needed three million seedlings of tea to do panel beating. However, from that time, in May, these seedlings were not supplied because there was no letter authorising UCDA to supply. The agriculture minister wrote a letter on the 20 th of May to the finance minister, who is here, asking that they should give a go-ahead to UCDA to supply; that letter was not given. On the day I raised the issue of pre-funding and so on, it was at a time when there was a rumour in the corridors that they wanted to censure the finance minister. I met the minister and he told me, “I am going to work on the letter.” But that was a long time ago. I would like to end with a caution; the whole of northern Uganda - I am the Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change - and we have been talking to NAADs and Operation Wealth Creation for a long time - Why do you supply seedlings when the dry season is about to fall? From early October, I don’t think anybody in northern Uganda and West Nile should pick coffee or tea seedlings and pretend to be planting; they will dry up. Our agriculture is rain-fed. Finally, honourable minister, what is Uganda known for? Which crop can we say Uganda has a niche in? We wanted to promote coffee and tea to boost our revenues, but instead, we are prioritising so many crops; we can’t concentrate and we can’t be mindful. I will give you the example of Vietnam; they prioritise coffee, and now they are exporting over 30 million 60-kilogramme bags; it is because they prioritise coffee and rice. They wanted the world to know them for that. But here you are growing carrots, macadamia, pumpkins and so on; please prioritise coffee and tea. Thank you.

5901 THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT OF UGANDA WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2022 This is a city of 14 million people. Basically, anything you can trade moves. The purchasing power is very high because they need lots of services. Of course, the issue is still logistics management, transport and all that. With the coming of Uganda Airlines, it would be a city, which, if we could focus on, – go to eastern Congo, which is well known for minerals, but a lot of trade goes on there. Hon. Kabbyanga’s area, Hon. Atkins Katusabe - that is why you have heard Hon. Katusabe insist on reopening their market. About stretching up to West Nile, you heard Hon. Otimgiw talk about the border in Goli- Zombo - all of them will connect. This is very important because it is a cash cow for the region. If we could give more attention to the DRC, then I believe as a country – that is why in the 10 th Parliament, when they requested approval of money for opening roads, despite some of us not having roads in our constituencies, we supported it because we were opening opportunities for Uganda to make money, which would in turn transform our economy. So, we need to give it serious attention, honourable colleagues.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. The issue of the border between Uganda and the DRC is a serious one. I worked for 15 years at the border as the LC III chairperson. Currently, there are many cases of stolen vehicles, which are transported through my constituency. If you try to check the border between Uganda and the DRC, there is no road. If you went there now, you would get lost. You would think you are in the DRC and yet you are on the Uganda side. I request our Government to do border demarcation from Vurra Custom, Logire up to Zombo because there is a lot of confusion there. People claim to be land owners or landlords, but it always causes a lot of confusion. Secondly, as my colleague has said, recently, the Arua Regional Referral Hospital ambulance was stolen. We have a neighbouring district called Aru. All our vehicles are there in the DRC. Currently in the DRC – (Member timed out.)

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I rise to present my concern about Nebbi-Goli-Zombo Road. I think we have all seen over social media, what is happening and the Nebbi-Goli route is one of the routes that generate a lot of income or taxes to our Government. As we talk, we are completely cut off and Government is also losing a lot of revenue. May the Prime Minister give an answer today so that my soul is at rest. Thank you.

On behalf of the people of Okoro Constituency in Zombo District, I join the rest of the world to pay our sincerest tribute to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. On her coronation day, she said, and I quote: “It does not matter how long I live; I will dedicate my life to serve.” Indeed, she served humanity with dignity, grace and a warm heart. She visited Uganda in 1954 and 2007. She has kept the Commonwealth countries together and this will always remain in our memories. With that, May God rest her soul in eternal peace. I submit.