Fraridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. The new trade war between Uganda and neighbouring country kenya was reignited by Kenyan senior politician Senator Ledama Olekina, after fresh attacks on Presisident William Ruto’s administration over imported Ugandan milk.
Through his Twiter handle, senator Olekina accused the current govenment of Kenya of jeopardizing Kenyan farmers through attempting to punish former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s daily business.
Senator Olekina’s concerns
Olekina explained that Ruto’s government allowed cheap milk from Uganda to be importent in the country as a way of getting back to Uhuru’s family business.
Uhuru’s daily company referred to is Brookside. However, Olekina said that Ruto is missing the target because Brookside is owned by a French company called Denon.
He explained that he love East Africa but local market shoukd come first. He also praised Uhuru’s rgime for restricting Uganda’ dairy products in Kenya during his two terms of 10 years. Olekina insisted that Uhuru was wise for to limit the amount of milk that floods Kenyan market, blaming current President Ruto for destroying the milk market for local farmers.
Reasons behind the concerns
Senator Olekina is also a businessman who owns Ekanasa dairy farm in Narok and processes and sells milk both in Kenya and in other countries like South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He has been opposing President Ruto for urging Kenyans to consume cheap milk from Uganda but process Kenyan milk for the regional market.
Uhuru’s connections to the Brookside Dairies
According to official records Uhuru’s family owns 50 percent shares in Brookside, while Denone holds a 40 percent stake, and Abraaj Group owns 10 percent shares. Brookside is also one of the top two diary processors in Uganda, having acquired the government-owned Diary Corporation in 2015
About Brookside
Brookside Dairy Limited is also known as Brookside Dairies, is a dairy processing company in Kenya, the largest economy in East African Community. The company processes pasteurized milk, cream. Butter, yogurt, ghee, and long life milk products in Indian Ocean Islands, East Africa, Rwanda and Burundi.
Uganda retaliated
Uganda reacted to Olekina’s Tweets by urging him to think more about regional trade and how the neighbouring countries can benefit from each other.
According to Uganda’s Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze told the Kenyan politician if Ugandans are able to produce milk cheaply, then Kenyans should be allowed to buy it and also in return have Kenyans to sell to Ugandans other products (as is the case now). He added that it was logical that Protectionism cannot help the two nations economies. That is why Ugandans do not complain about Kenya’s chicks flooding the market.
The senators attack on Uganda’s cheap milk imported to Kenya came a few days after President Ruto sent a message to Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta emphasizing the need for closer regional economic cooperation.
The two countries strategy for regional economic cooperation The envoy fron the government of Kenya, the ministers (cabinet secretary) of trade and industry, Moses Kuria said that Uganda and Kenya would join hands to achieve cross-borde regional, and continental trade goals.
This will be done after the two countries setting up a joint mechanism to conduct a SWOT (strength, Weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of both countries’ agricultural, manufacturing, and service potential with a view to planning a joint supply chain.
Uganda think that President Ruto is for a win-win and its what farmers from both countries need. Minister Tumwebaze united how Ugandan dairy farmers buy most of their dairy animals as well as chocks from Kenya without any policy regulatory limitations from the government.
Uganda should pick a leaf from the new trade war One Ugandan dairy farmer and veterinarian advised Museveni’s government to learn from the fresh verbal attacks by a section of Kenyans over cheap products from Uganda.
The dairy farmer and veterinarian Tuhumwire Julius argument is that what is happening in Kenya is not different from what is happening Uganda, middlemen stal from farmers by offering cheap prices. This stiuation turns Ugandans into slaves of Indian processors.
However, the minister defended Uganda saying that the alleged exploitation by middlemen is the reasn to discourage protectionism and aggressively look for regional, continental, and international market.
According to Tumwebaze mutual trade should be guided by what each party can produce competitively. If Uganda is abble to produce milk cheaply, Kenya can pick on what it produces better.
The two nations have been having trade wars in the past years. The past war started in 2019 when Kenya banned Uganda from importing milk. The trade wars between the two neighboring countries are not only a threat to economic prosperity in the involved states but are also a threat to free trade in the East African Community (EAC).
Milk exports were allowed in December 2021, after Uganda, through the minister for EAC Affaurs Rebecca Kadaga, threatened to retaliate.
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