The NRM parliamentary caucus has finally pushed through a contentious merger of 16 government agencies. The breakthrough came after a heated meeting at State House, Entebbe, where months of political wrangling and deadlock gave way to a unanimous resolution that some are calling the most significant shake-up of Uganda’s public sector in years.
After numerous attempts to strike a deal, the NRM lawmakers emerged from the meeting with a plan in hand, but not without a twist. They agreed to grant a three-year transitional period to two critical agencies: the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the National Information Technology Authority, Uganda (NITA-U).
For months, the merger proposal has been the political equivalent of a suspense thriller, with numerous meetings, intense lobbying, and high-stakes negotiations that seemed destined for failure. The government has argued that the merger would eliminate redundancy, reduce administrative costs, and streamline operations. Yet, each time the caucus met, the only thing they seemed to agree on was the need for another meeting.
However, today’s resolution signals that the NRM is ready to flex its political muscle. With a strong parliamentary majority, the ruling party now has the numbers to push through the merger despite objections from opposition figures, civil society, and the thousands of employees who may see their jobs at risk.
In a nod to pragmatism, the NRM decided to grant a three-year grace period to two agencies deemed too important to rush into oblivion: the UCDA and NITA-U. The UCDA, which plays a pivotal role in Uganda’s coffee industry—a sector contributing roughly 20% to the country’s export earnings—will have time to adjust to its new status under the merged entity. For a nation of coffee lovers and farmers, this was a bitter cup many were not willing to swallow just yet.
Similarly, NITA-U, the digital backbone of the country, has been given a temporary reprieve. As Uganda races toward a digital future, sidelining the body responsible for overseeing the nation’s IT infrastructure could have sent shockwaves through the economy. The three-year transition is seen as a buffer to avoid any sudden outages, technological or political.
But not everyone is celebrating the merger. Critics argue that the consolidation will lead to thousands of job losses, decrease efficiency, and concentrate too much power in a few hands. Some members of the opposition have already labeled it a “power grab,” a move to centralize control under the guise of administrative reform.
Others warn that merging agencies with very different mandates—from coffee farming to technology development—could lead to a bureaucratic nightmare, akin to “trying to teach a coffee farmer how to code.”
With the NRM holding a firm grip on Parliament, there’s little doubt the merger will be rubber-stamped in the coming days. But as the dust settles, the real challenge lies ahead: how will the government implement such a sweeping change without derailing essential services, alienating key stakeholders, or triggering widespread public discontent?
The coming weeks will be crucial as the country watches to see if this bold move will indeed “streamline” government operations or if it will turn into one of the most contentious political reforms in recent memory.
