The contract of Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, the Managing Director of Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) expired on September 30, he has for the last five days operated illegally, DaParrot exclusively Reports
Efforts by Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to renew the contract hit a dead snag after Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka blocked the Bid.
Tumwebaze in the September 24 letter to the AG sought legal advice as to whether it was fine for him (Tumwebaze) to extend Dr. Iyamulemye’s contract
He (Kiwanuka) advised Tumwebaze to instead wait for the Board to either appoint the new MD or extend Dr. Iyemulemye’s contract.
Quoting Section 22(1) of the National Coffee Act No. 17 of 2021, the Attorney General told the Minister that it is only the Board of UCDA, which is appointed by the Cabinet.
“In your letter, you stated that following the enactment of the National Coffee Act, 2021, there have been delays in the process of approving the Board of UCDA by Cabinet and yet the contract of the managing director is expiring in September and you sought legal advice as to whether in absence of the Board, you can extend the contract of MD pending finalization pf the Board Appointment,” reads part of the letter.
Section 14(4) of the New Coffee Act mandates the Minister to appoint the Board members except for the managing Director.
This Board, according to Section 1 of the same Act is defined as the Board of Authority
“In view of the above provisions of the law, the appointing authority of the Managing Director is the board and not the minister,” the letter adds.
“Basing on the above case, it is clear that the MAAIF minister cannot exercise the powers he does not have under the National Coffee Act, 2021,” he said.
“As such, the minister cannot extend the contract of the managing director of UCDA because it would be ultra-vires for the Minister to exercise the functions of the Board,” he added.
We established that Dr. Iyamulemye is currently in Dubai, attending the Dubai EXPO despite being warned against traveling by the Minister. He will be due to fly back to Uganda on Friday this week.
The Dubai Expo 2020 is a World Expo currently hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 1, to March 2021 (182 days).
