Museveni yet to return Sugar Bill to Parliament

President Yoweri Museveni has not yet returned the Sugar Bill to Parliament for reconsideration.

Parliament passed the Sugar Bill, 2016 in November last year to regulate the sugar industry. The House, however, rejected a government proposal to provide operating zones for mills.

In the Bill, the government had proposed a zone of 25km between mills with no more than one mill in that zone and out-growers in that area only supplying sugarcane to the mill.

The chairperson of the committee on trade, Robert Ssebunya, told New Vision on Tuesday that the Clerk to Parliament had written to the President reminding him of the Constitutional period under which he can assent to or reject a Bill passed by Parliament, and report back to the House.

"We are still waiting for the President to return the Bill and tell us which clauses he is contesting and why. The Clerk to Parliament (Jane Kibirige) has written to him about the pending deadline," Ssebunya said.

The Clerk did not answer our repeated phone calls to her mobile phone when contacted for a comment.

Article 79(1) of the Constitution provides that "Parliament shall have the power to make laws on any matter for the peace, order, development and good governance of Uganda."

The Constitution also provides that the President shall within 30 days after a Bill is presented to him/her either: - assent to the Bill; return Bill to Parliament with a request that the Bill or a particular provision of it be reconsidered by Parliament; or notify the Speaker in writing about the decision.

The Bill may be reconsidered and then presented for the President's approval. However, it may become law without the President's assent if he/she returns it to Parliament two times.

The Sugar Bill seeks to provide for the development, regulation and promotion of the sugar industry to ensure that there is a sustainable, diversified, harmonised, modern and competitive sugar sector.

Why Museveni rejected Bill

Museveni recently told National Resistance Movement MPs who were attending a retreat in Kyankwanzi that he would return the Bill to Parliament for reconsideration. 

He said he was not happy with the MPs for passing the Bill without considering the interests of the big sugar manufacturers.

He said the MPs' move would antagonize "our old big sugar people." "I don't know your relationships with small sugar people. Some of you have got a suspicious relationship with small sugar people. You are sabotaging my plan with big sugar people," he stressed.

Museveni, who said he wants producers of sugar to process sugar used in medicine, revealed that some of them had even considered closing up shop.  

When MPs replied in a low murmur that the big sugar manufacturers were lying, Museveni said: "Even if they are lying, know where your interest lies. You need to have better spectacles when you come to Parliament."

Efforts by New Vision to get a comment from the senior press secretary to the President, Don Wanyama, were futile as he did not answer our repeated phone calls by press time.