“Law Must Be Followed”: Museveni Rejects Claim He Ordered CN Sugar Licence

By Swift Reporter 

President Yoweri Museveni has distanced himself from any suggestion that he directed the head of government  business, prime minister Robinah Nabbanja to grant CN Sugar Limited an operating licence or commission its factory in Namayingo, contrary to court ruling banning the same.

The controversy stems from Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja’s intervention in the licensing process for the CN Sugar factory, whose fresh application was still under consideration by the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council after court dustbined it for lack of prerequisite requirements to obtain operating license.

Nabbanja had set a date to commission the factory and instructed officials to ensure that the necessary processes were completed before her arrival in Namayingo.

However, the available documentation does not show that President Museveni ordered CN Sugar to be licensed or that he directed that the factory be commissioned before the statutory process was completed.

Instead, Nabbanja’s August 13, 2026 letter to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives referred to a presidential directive for her to follow up on the status of CN Sugar’s licensing.

According to the letter, Nabbanja wrote: “Reference is made to H.E. The President’s directive to me to follow-up on the status of licensing for CN Sugar Ltd in Namayingo District.”

She then informed the minister that she would travel to Namayingo on September 4 to commission the factory and instructed officials to ensure that “all the required processes are complied with” before her arrival.

That distinction is central to the controversy.

While claims have circulated that Nabbanja was invoking Museveni’s name as she pushed the matter, the documented letter does not say that Museveni ordered the licence to be issued.

Rather, the President’s reported instruction was for the Prime Minister to follow up on the status of the application.

But also most recently, the president met one of the stakeholders about the same and when asked, the president was shocked to learn that his quest to know the status of the factory was misinterpreted as a directive to get them a license contrary to court ruling that was guided by their own set out rules and regulations under the national sugar council. “Let her follow the law, if court guided then let them follow the law,” president was quoted saying.

The question that has therefore emerged is whether Nabbanja went beyond that mandate by setting a commissioning date while the independent regulatory process had not yet produced a final licensing decision, although she still didn’t honour the date she was supposed to commission it.

Court Already Ruled On CN Sugar

In January 2025, the High Court in Kampala found previous permissions issued to CN Sugar by the Ministry of Trade to be unlawful and ordered the company to stop sugar and jaggery milling until it obtained a valid licence from the legally authorised regulator.

Justice Douglas Singiza Karekona found that the earlier regulatory framework had been improperly applied and directed that licensing be handled through the appropriate statutory mechanism.

The ruling followed years of disagreements over CN Sugar’s establishment in Namayingo, including concerns about the proximity of the proposed factory to existing sugar mills and the availability of sufficient sugarcane.

The company has since pursued a fresh licensing process under the new regulatory framework.

One of the major issues surrounding the licence is whether CN Sugar has enough of its own sugarcane to sustain the factory without taking cane from farmers contracted to existing millers.

In March, the Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council was identified as the statutory body responsible for considering the licensing question. The Council was expected to examine verification findings before making its decision.

The issue is significant because the government has previously insisted that sugar factories must have adequate sources of raw materials.

President Museveni himself issued a 2017 directive warning against licensing sugar mills without sufficient farmland or established out-grower networks, saying some companies were enticing farmers contracted to other sugar companies.

That policy background has become relevant again in the CN Sugar dispute.

A government verification exercise cited by Daily Monitor found that CN Sugar had established 121 hectares of sugarcane against a required nucleus estate of about 500 hectares.

The then Trade Minister Francis Mwebesa subsequently halted the factory’s establishment in 2024 until the company could meet the required conditions.

Nabbanja’s Intervention

Despite the unresolved regulatory questions, Nabbanja moved to accelerate the process.

In her August communication, she referred to an earlier March directive in which she had instructed the Trade Ministry to expedite the licensing process.

She subsequently announced her intention to travel to Namayingo to commission the factory.

This created an unusual sequence: the commissioning date was communicated while the licence application was still before the regulatory authorities.

The Daily Monitor reported that the fresh application remained before the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council, which was responsible for determining whether CN Sugar met the statutory requirements.

The issue has consequently become one of institutional authority.

If the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council is legally responsible for determining whether CN Sugar qualifies for a licence, the Council must be able to assess the application on the evidence before it, rather than work backwards from a politically announced commissioning date.

Respect The Law

The central issue is therefore not whether Uganda needs new investment or whether Namayingo residents want the factory.

It is whether the investment can be allowed to operate through the same legal and regulatory process applicable to every other sugar mill.

Museveni’s documented position, as reflected in Nabbanja’s letter, was to have the Prime Minister follow up on the licensing status. That is materially different from directing the regulator to issue a licence. And that distinction matters.

If CN Sugar meets all statutory requirements, the relevant authorities should have the legal basis to issue the licence.

If it does not, political pressure should not substitute for the licensing process.