Its role in building sociability, work and economic mobility cannot be underestimated. It has been this way for ages. Coffee is the fifth most traded commodity in the world, behind gold, oil, silver and copper.

In Uganda, coffee brings in around $1 billion each year and supports millions of people. The government sees agriculture, which employs almost 70 percent of its working population, and which represents only 24 percent of GDP, as a clear invitation to improve efficiency, add value and, with it, to demand higher prices on the world market.

The same government suddenly adopts austerity measures previously considered a foreign concept. Part of these austerity measures is the massively sold rationalization of government parastatals which, only a few years ago, were forming faster than one can imagine; against public opinion.

The rationalization train has reached the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), an entity working at the nerve center of Uganda’s most prized cash crops.

Suddenly we see large swaths of the public taking up arms and fighting a policy that they would have applauded to the heavens only a few years ago.

They are now turning more to outright lies and distortion of the president’s message.

One of the biggest lies is that somehow the UCDA is responsible for the high prices that have led to an increase in farmers’ incomes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As the president explained in three online missives, extreme weather in Brazil (frost), drought caused by El Niño in Vietnam, drought and labor shortages caused by immigration in America Latin, etc. price.

Then there is the misrepresentation of the coffee seedling program, the distortion of the European Union-funded walking grant program, extension services and other initiatives, all aimed at creating a narrative that without UCDA , farmers should expect disaster.

Of course, this is wildly exaggerated and met with stiff resistance from the president himself. Unfortunately, her voice does not seem to fully penetrate the walls fortified by the recent statements in Parliament by President Anita Among as well as the intrigue and distrust that is a pillar of our politics.

The days when the president’s words were taken literally appear to be quickly passing in the mirror.

It’s not a good place for our society, but it’s not shocking either.

Having watched helplessly for years as state institutions are essentially taken over and transformed into administrative outposts of state-backed private interests, it should come as no surprise that Ugandans treat the decision with skepticism. of the government to implement what they are asking for.

Ugandans want efficiency in government. Rationalization gives them that. It merges government entities and maximizes efficiency. This is the argument they made against the creation of the UCDA in 1994. It is a winning argument that the country should embrace. The problem is that they have become accustomed to mistrust and lies.

Mr. Anthony Natif is team leader, Place Publique. @TonyNatif