Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Rebecca Kadaga, says improved sugarcane prices and the disbandment of the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) could significantly boost President Yoweri Museveni’s performance in the Busoga sub-region ahead of next month’s polls scheduled for January 15, 2025.
President Museveni lost Busoga to National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, during the 2021 general election. Kyagulanyi won in eight districts and Jinja City, while Museveni only secured victories in Buyende, Kaliro, and Namutumba districts.
Kadaga, who is heading Museveni’s vote-mobilisation team in Busoga, says one of the biggest challenges that affected the ruling party in 2021 was the sharp decline in sugarcane prices. At the time, prices fell to as low as 50,000 Shillings per tonne, forcing many farmers to either give away their cane or clear their gardens to grow alternative high-income crops.
She adds that farmers were also frustrated by corruption and bureaucracy in accessing permits to sell sugarcane to different mills, with many forced to rely on personal connections or bribes. This discontent, she says, directly influenced voting behaviour in a sub-region where at least one in every three people depends on the sugar industry for survival.
Kadaga now says that although there was a recent attempt to lower sugarcane prices again, the Sugar Council’s decision to set a minimum price of 125,000Sshillings per tonne has restored hope among farmers.
However, some farmers remain sceptical. Susan Namukobe fears that the price increase could be temporary and politically motivated, only to be reversed after the general election. Kadaga acknowledges these concerns and says she will work with the public to push for lasting sugarcane price stability.
Kadaga also addressed concerns surrounding weighbridges, saying that despite pressure to abolish them, President Museveni directed that they remain operational. She says weighbridges are essential in guaranteeing fair measurements, offering ready markets for farmers, and reducing conflict within the sugar industry.
Beyond agriculture, Kadaga says the disbandment of the Fisheries Protection Unit has helped ease long-standing tensions along major water bodies in Busoga. Allegations of torture, extortion, and loss of livelihoods by FPU personnel are widely believed to have contributed to the region’s shift away from Museveni in the 2021 elections, with women and youth reported as the most affected.
Faisal Musiime, a fisherman from Bukaleba landing site in Mayuge District, says the disbandment of the FPU will only be meaningful if victims of past abuses are supported with alternative sources of income.
Musiime recalls that in 2021, an inquiry team of UPDF officers, led by then-Major General Leopold Kyanda, toured several landing sites, promising reforms that never fully materialised after the elections.
He says that while physical beatings are now rarely reported, extortion remains the most common violation against fishermen. Musiime adds that the presidential directive to disband the FPU is being welcomed with caution.
Kadaga, however, insists that the move has already brought relief, allowing fishermen to earn more meaningful incomes from their daily labour and restoring confidence in the management of the fisheries sector.
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