Rebecca Kadaga Calls for Ban on Kenyan Traders Buying Food Directly From Ugandan Farms

KAMPALA, Uganda — First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, has called for a ban on Kenyan traders purchasing food directly from farms, accusing them of exploiting Ugandan farmers and perpetuating poverty.

Speaking Tuesday during a meeting with a delegation of cross-border women traders in Kampala, Kadaga directed the Ministries of Trade and Internal Affairs to develop mechanisms to stop the practice, describing it as a failure of immigration and trade oversight.

“That is the weakness of immigration and Ministry of Trade. We Ugandans are very hospitable people; we allow them to come here,” Kadaga said. “I have a small hotel in Kagulu, and Kenyans go there to buy watermelons. Stop them at the border and tell them: if you want watermelons, wait there. They come here to cheat us.”

Concerns over Kenyan traders buying produce directly from gardens are not new. In 2023, Maj. Gen. George Owinoh, then Kenya’s High Commissioner to Uganda, led a joint delegation to northern Uganda to inspect food sources, particularly cereals exported to Kenya. He later proposed a structured system for producing food for export to address food insecurity in Kenya while boosting Ugandan farmers’ incomes.

District authorities in Amuru have also previously raised objections, citing poor handling practices by Kenyan traders that compromise food quality.

Kadaga addressed broader regional trade tensions, including blockades on Ugandan sugar and milk exports to Kenya and restrictions on foreign small-business operators in Tanzania. She acknowledged that regional integration remains complex because member states prioritize their own interests but said discussions to resolve the ban on Ugandan milk and sugar are ongoing, with a target resolution by June.

Tuesday’s meeting was a follow-up to policy discussions from July 2025 focused on issues affecting women and girls in Uganda and the East African region. Kadaga praised the women leaders for advocating for inclusion in decision-making.

“As politicians, we make policies that affect ordinary people, yet we often speak for them without consulting them,” she said. “It is time Ugandans took an interest and actively participated in the East African Community.”