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The deal will apparently let the company single-handedly manage the production, export, and setting of prices of Coffee beans and related products.
Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, and Uganda Vinci Coffee Company (UVCC) Limited owned by Italian investor Enrica Pinetti are the accused.
The lawyers in the case filed before the High Court in Kampala on April 25 are Byansi Henry and Aboneka Micheal. The two argue that the deal is illegal and unfair to other Ugandan Coffee farmers.
According to them, they should declare null the actions of the Finance minister Matia Kasaija.
“…court to declare that the actions of the minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development of secretly handpicking UVCC at the detriment of other able Ugandan firms to singly manage the production, exportation and pricing of coffee beans and related products is illegal, null and void,” the lawsuit reads in part.
They also want the court to declare how unfair every aspect of this deal is to Ugandans.
Apparently, the minister’s failure to seek the necessary legal approvals is an abuse of power. He apparently didn’t seek help from URA, NSSF, and other responsible bodies.
According to them, the agreement gives a monopoly to UVCC to control the coffee market. However, it eliminates other players like small-scale farmers, middlemen and co-operative unions.
“The impugned deed of amendment and restatement of the project implementation agreement in its entirety violates the guiding principles of creating a competitive, equitable, commercialized, liberalized and sustainable coffee subsector contrary to the National Coffee Policy, 2013, National Coffee Act, 2021.”
Kasaija, in Feb 2022, signed an agreement with Pinetti for the production and export of coffee products. The two lawyers claimed it is illegal, unfair, arbitrary, highhanded, irrational, ultra vires, null and void.
The lawyers also say the minister’s action of secretly handpicking UVCC Limited at the detriment of other able Ugandan firms. It is also a violation of Anti-Trust and Laissez-faire principles, liberalisation.
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