Mukula rallies Museveni’s support for coffee plant in Mbale

MBALE - The National Resistance Movement (NRM) vice chairperson for eastern Uganda, Capt. Mike Mukula, has petitioned President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to support the establishment of a coffee processing plant in Mbale to boost value addition in the region’s coffee sector.

In his petition dated April 28, 2025, Mukula proposed that the facility be managed under the Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU).

According to Mukula, the plant would serve as a catalytic intervention to unlock the economic potential of eastern Uganda, generate employment, and position Uganda competitively in the global speciality coffee market.

“I humbly request your direct intervention once again this time, to support the establishment of a Coffee Processing Industry in Mbale,” he wrote.

He commended the President’s long-standing campaign against the export of raw materials such as coffee, cotton, and copper, and urged him to extend that industrialisation drive to the Bugisu region.

Mike Mukula

Mukula emphasised that a deliberate, government-led initiative to establish a modern coffee processing plant in Bugisu would expand value-addition capacities and allow Uganda to export fully processed coffee products instead of raw beans.

He said the initiative would also create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, especially for youth under the Parish Development Model (PDM), and offer farmers stable, better-paying markets.

He added that the plant would enhance Uganda’s foreign exchange earnings, reduce the country's vulnerability to global commodity price fluctuations, and revitalise cooperative movements, boosting confidence and pride among smallholder farmers.

“Your Excellency, this project would be a strategic extension of your broader vision for rural industrialisation, a catalyst for East African trade integration, and a model for how Uganda can break free from colonial economic patterns and ascend to true wealth creation and sovereignty,” he stated.

Coffee

Mukula pledged to mobilise the necessary political, social, and economic structures to support the project if it receives presidential endorsement.

“Bugisu is ready. Uganda is ready. Africa is watching. With humility, conviction, and loyalty. I seek your hand to ignite yet another economic revolution, this time, one that will make Mbale the cradle of value-added coffee production in Uganda,” he added.

The petition was also copied to the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Finance, among others.