Sugar Farmers Celebrate As Parliament Orders Immediate Reinstatement Of Weighbridges

Kampala — Parliament has directed the immediate reinstatement of roadside weighbridges used by sugarcane farmers, dramatically reversing a directive by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja that had ordered their removal and triggered months of protests by outgrowers across the country.

During Wednesday’s plenary sitting, legislators adopted a report from a high-level stakeholders’ meeting held a day earlier at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, effectively clearing the way for the weighbridges to be restored without further delay. The meeting had been chaired by State Minister for Trade David Bahati, alongside State Minister for Lands Persis Namuganza and State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite, convened on the instruction of Parliament after the matter was raised as an issue of national importance.

The resolution puts Parliament in direct opposition to the Prime Minister’s earlier position, which farmers and several legislators had sharply criticised as punitive and tilted in favour of powerful industry players. Rai, the proprietor of Kinyara Sugar Limited who also serves as Chairman of the Sugar Council, was among the figures cited during debate as benefiting from the policy environment created by the directive.

Debate on the floor was emotionally charged. Several MPs argued that removing the weighbridges had left smallholder farmers exposed to manipulation by millers, who they accused of exploiting the absence of independent weighing systems to understate cane volumes and shortchange outgrowers. Legislators described the devices as a critical safeguard for transparency and fairness in sugarcane transactions.

The session drew an unusual level of public attention, with groups of sugarcane farmers filling the public gallery to follow proceedings that directly affect their incomes. Their quiet presence in the chamber was not lost on several MPs, some of whom acknowledged what one legislator described as the “silent suffering” farmers had endured since the enforcement of the Prime Minister’s directive, which had also carried the backing of Internal Affairs Minister Gen Kahinda Otafiire.

A section of legislators went further, openly questioning the motivation behind Nabbanja’s original decision. Kakira Sugar Works and Kinyara Sugar Limited were repeatedly cited as dominant millers accused of benefiting from the removal of the weighbridges. MPs described the sugar sector as being under the grip of interests capable of shaping government policy at the expense of rural farmers.

By adopting the report, Parliament has directed the relevant ministries and agencies to move swiftly on restoration. The development marks a significant victory for outgrowers who have staged repeated protests over what they termed systemic exploitation and regulatory neglect within the sugarcane value chain.

Attention now turns to how the Executive will respond. Government agencies are expected to operationalise the reinstatement promptly, while the broader question of whether deeper reforms will follow to regulate the sugar industry more equitably remains firmly on the table.