KAMPALA – President Museveni has tasked Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, to explain how Brazilian sugar found itself on Uganda’s market, saying this has affected the market for Uganda’s locally manufactured sugar in the regional market.
He has ordered for its immediate closure.
In a leaked August 19 letter to the Prime Minister, the President revealed how he was informed that some “genius” authorised the existence of a so-called Sugar Bond in Kampala.
He went ahead explaining the meaning behind ‘Sugar Bond‘ saying it meant a warehouse where foreign subsidised sugar from for instance Brazil is stored for re-export to Congo, South Sudan.
Museveni said that as a result of Brazillian sugar hitting Kampala, this has left the neighbouring countries sceptical of Uganda’s capacity to supply the East African region with enough sugar, given the fact that the country has allowed a ‘Sugar Bond’ in her territory.
With the installed capacity of 550,000 tonnes, Uganda is the only East African country with surplus sugar of about 80,000 tonnes per annum.
As such, Museveni argued that the regional members have been thrown into doubt whether the sugar coming from Uganda is really Ugandan or is part of the so-called ‘Bond Sugar’ imported from foreign sources.
General Museveni continued with his missive listing a number of questions Rugunda has to provide answers: “Who allowed this sugar bond to be established? I really demand to know. Was a Paper brought to Cabinet to allow a self-undermining policy of being the promoters of imported sugar while our own sugar industry was recovering.?
The President went on with his questions: “More importantly, I now direct that working with the Attorney General this ‘Sugar Bond’ should be immediately closed, never to be reopened again. Who is operating this Sugar Bond in any case? I really want to know who they are and who allowed them?”
Museveni’s letter comes at a time when Kenya and Uganda were recently hit by reports that poisonous sugar had hit their markets, with the reports having originated from Kenya and this saw the Nation’s Government ban and destroy the sugar.
However, as Uganda was recovering from the scandal, reports emerged that the banned sugar from Kenya had found its way in Uganda, reports the sugar manufacturers and Ministry of Trade vehemently denied.
