The former Executive Director of the defunct Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, has passed on, according to Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze, who announced the sad news on X (formerly Twitter) this morning.
“I have learnt this morning with deep sorrow the passing of Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, the former ED of UCDA. Dr. Iyamulemye passed away this morning, November 18, 2025. Dr. Iyamulemye was a pillar of Uganda’s coffee sector and played a key leadership role in the design and implementation of Uganda’s coffee roadmap that brought about Uganda’s exponential growth,” Tumwebaze wrote.
Under Iyamulemye’s leadership, Tumwebaze noted, Uganda strengthened its coffee quality standards, expanded farmer extension support systems, and positioned itself among the world’s most competitive coffee origins.
“He fought firmly in international coffee bodies and forums, demanding the correct classification of African coffees (Uganda’s Robusta and Ethiopia’s Arabica). He was a bold, firm and intelligent officer. Together with other colleagues, he worked hard to open up Uganda’s new coffee markets like China. On behalf of MAAIF Uganda, the coffee stakeholder fraternity, and on my own behalf, I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, colleagues, and friends. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” Tumwebaze posted on X.
By November 2021, Iyamulemye’s career spanned more than 15 years. After graduate school, he served for two years as programme director of an initiative promoting NERICA rice in Uganda, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
He later served as National Programme Coordinator for two major development programmes jointly funded by the European Union and the Government of Uganda to uplift communities in Northern Uganda. The Northern Uganda Agricultural Livelihoods Recovery Programme (ALREP), worth €20 million, and the Karamoja Livelihoods Programme (KALIP), worth €15 million, both ran between 2010 and 2016.
Iyamulemye was first appointed CEO of UCDA in 2016. In 2021, the UCDA Board renewed his contract for another five years following the successful delivery of his first term.
UCDA was among the government agencies later dissolved, with its activities absorbed into the Ministry of Agriculture.
