Uganda’s government, under the Rationalisation of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) policy, has undertaken significant steps to streamline its public sector in 2024.
This restructuring effort, aimed at reducing redundancy, cutting public administration costs, and enhancing service delivery, has led to the merger or dissolution of several government agencies. However, these changes have sparked considerable controversy, particularly concerning the coffee sector, with concerns over potential disruptions, inefficiencies, and the impact on public services.
The Rationale Behind the Rationalisation
The RAPEX policy was introduced with the dual objectives of improving governance efficiency and reducing the financial burden of public administration.
Uganda’s government has cited the increasing cost of running multiple agencies—amounting to Shs 1.3 trillion annually as of 2021—as a key motivator for these changes. According to Minister for Public Service, Muruuli Mukasa, the proliferation of agencies led to overlapping mandates and jurisdictional ambiguities that hindered effective service delivery.
Dr. Gerald Karyeija, Dean of the School of Management at Uganda Management Institute, views the reorganisation as a positive step towards a more streamlined and cost-effective government.
He argues that such reforms, rooted in new public management principles, are essential to improving public sector performance, not merely saving money.
However, Karyeija also emphasizes that the restructuring should extend beyond agencies to include the Cabinet and other government departments to ensure broader administrative efficiencies.
The Agencies Affected: Mergers and Dissolutions
Among the most significant mergers was the integration of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) into the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
This move, which has already been completed following President Museveni’s assent to the relevant bills, was seen as a way to streamline the coffee sector’s operations and enhance coordination with broader agricultural policies.
However, opposition legislators raised concerns over the impact of such a merger on the coffee industry, especially given the sector’s importance to Uganda’s economy.
Similarly, the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was dissolved, and its functions were absorbed into the Ministry responsible for roads.
The government argued that this would reduce administrative costs and enhance efficiency in managing the country’s road infrastructure.
Other notable mergers include the consolidation of National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U) with the Ministry of ICT and the integration of Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) into the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). In the Ministry of Gender, several councils—including the National Youth Council, National Women’s Council, and National Council for Disability—were merged under a single secretariat to streamline operations.
Controversies and Concerns
Despite the government’s assertions about efficiency gains, the RAPEX policy has been met with mixed reactions.
The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Parliamentary Caucus, led by President Museveni, has strongly supported the rationalisation.
One of the most significant concerns involves the impact on workers.
The Ministry of Public Service has requested a budget of Shs 79.3 billion for the 2024/25 financial year to compensate around 2,200 public servants who are expected to be laid off due to the agency mergers. Critics have questioned whether these severances will truly lead to long-term benefits or merely deepen unemployment in an already strained job market.
Additionally, concerns have emerged regarding the impact on sectors like energy.
Jude Kamuganga, a lawyer and policy associate at Envirosure Consulting, cautioned that while some mergers could improve efficiency, others, particularly in the energy sector, could backfire.
He pointed to the unbundling of the electricity sector under the Electricity Act of 1999, which created separate entities for generation, transmission, and distribution, as a model of efficiency that could be undone by mergers in the energy sector.
Buganda Kingdom’s Response: A Deepening Rift
The merger of UCDA has particularly strained relations between the central government and Buganda Kingdom.
Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga has been vocal in his opposition, arguing that the dissolution of UCDA disproportionately affects the Baganda people, who contribute nearly 50% of Uganda’s coffee exports.
Mayiga contends that the move is politically motivated, viewing it as a “victory” against the Baganda community.
He emphasized that the Kingdom of Buganda has repeatedly warned against the removal of UCDA, which plays a key role in overseeing coffee production, a vital source of livelihood for nearly 2 million Ugandan households.
In response, President Museveni met with Buganda and Bukedi MPs to address concerns over the coffee bill.
He dismissed allegations of potential monopoly formation, attributing recent fluctuations in coffee prices to global market dynamics, particularly adverse conditions affecting major coffee-producing nations like Brazil and Vietnam.
The Economic and Social Impact: Navigating a Rocky Road Ahead
The long-term success of the RAPEX policy will depend on the government’s ability to manage the transitions effectively.
The promised cost savings from merging agencies could be undermined if the restructuring leads to significant service disruptions or worsens the capacity of the affected ministries to perform their duties. In sectors like agriculture, where precision and long-term planning are crucial, the merger of UCDA into MAAIF could result in policy fragmentation or inefficiencies if not managed carefully.
Moreover, the financial implications of compensating workers and maintaining operations during the transition period could strain Uganda’s national budget, which is already under pressure with the Shs 52.7 trillion framework for 2024/25. Whether the fiscal savings from these mergers will outweigh the costs of retrenchments and operational disruptions remains uncertain.
A Controversial Reform with Mixed Outcomes
RAPEX policy has undeniably brought significant change, but its long-term success remains a matter of heated debate.
While the government’s intentions of reducing redundancy, cutting costs, and improving efficiency are clear, the mergers and dissolutions of key agencies have left a trail of uncertainty and concerns about their broader impact on the economy and public services.
In the coffee sector, where theUCDA merger with the Ministry of Agriculture is perhaps the most contentious, the future of Uganda’s coffee industry hangs in the balance.
For decades, UCDA has played a pivotal role in promoting coffee production, research, and export, generating substantial foreign exchange revenue. Critics, particularly from Buganda, worry that the integration of UCDA into MAAIF could lead to inefficiencies, given the agriculture ministry’s broader remit and its previous struggles with managing the coffee sector. The concerns voiced by Buganda, with Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga’s strong opposition, reflect a deeper cultural and economic unease within the region, where coffee farming is a livelihood for millions. As Uganda’s second-largest export commodity, coffee’s fate has sparked national conversations about the importance of maintaining sector-specific focus and expertise.
While the merging of UCDA into the Ministry of Agriculture is framed as a means to improve coordination and reduce administrative costs, the political and social tensions surrounding it highlight the complexities of such a large-scale restructuring.
The challenge lies in ensuring that the high standards of Uganda’s coffee exports, which are key to global competitiveness, are not compromised by broader bureaucratic shifts. The proposed transitional periods for the merger—three years for UCDA and NITA-U—may provide time for adjustments, but questions linger about whether this will be enough to safeguard the industry from possible disruptions.
Furthermore, the RAPEX policy’s potential financial benefits remain uncertain. Uganda’s government is investing heavily in compensating thousands of workers set to be laid off due to the mergers.
The Shs 79.3 billion earmarked for severance packages will add to the national budget deficit, raising concerns about the true cost of these changes. While the savings from merging agencies like Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and NITA-U are expected to reduce annual public administration costs, the immediate fiscal burden and the social implications of job losses cannot be ignored.
Critics warn that restructuring in areas such as the energy sector could undo decades of progress in improving service delivery and governance. Uganda’s energy sector, for example, was carefully unbundled in the 1990s to separate generation, transmission, and distribution, fostering competition and private sector participation.
A reversal of this model could diminish transparency and lead to inefficiencies.
Despite these concerns, some experts believe the RAPEX policy could be an opportunity to modernize Uganda’s public sector and create a leaner, more effective government.
As Uganda enters 2025, the success of the RAPEX policy will hinge on how well these transitions are managed and whether the government can strike a balance between cost-cutting measures and maintaining essential services. The future of key sectors like coffee, energy, and roads, as well as the livelihoods of thousands of civil servants, rests on the careful execution of these reforms.
