Africa-Press – Uganda. Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) is set to create zonal collection centres for coffee in Bugisu Sub-region as part of measures to increase productivity and save farmers from the growing threat posed by middlemen.
The decision was reached during an annual general meeting at the BCU headquarters in Industrial Division, Mbale City, at the weekend.
The Union has several zones, which are spread in different districts, including Sironko valley, Bugusege, Lambuli, Upper Central, Lower Central, Bubulo, Manafwa, Tsutsu and Lwakhakha.
Mr Patrick Mudali, one of the delegates, told Daily Monitor that this will not only save them from the jaws of the middlemen but also ease transportation challenges.
“Sometimes due to long distance, some farmers end up giving away their coffee cheaply to the middlemen because they cannot afford to transport it to the Union,” he said.
Mr Stephen Simiyu, another delegate, said the decision to establish zonal collection centres will spur productivity.
“This will encourage farmers to grow more coffee in the long run,” he said. In 2019, the member societies and groups delivered 479,255kgs of parchment coffee to the Union compared to 659,485kgs delivered in 2018. There was a shortfall of 180,230kgs.
Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the chairperson of the Union, said creation of collection centres will also help his leadership to know the needs and challenges of the farmers.
“We are employees of BCU and so having zonal collection centres, will enable us to interface with the farmers. We will be able to know their needs and challenges,” Mr Nandala said.
Mr Nandala, also the Member of Parliament for Budadiri West in Sironko District, said despite challenges posed by the petitioners, the Union is on the right track.
“The Union is performing well but the petitioners want it to collapse and if they had a weak person, it would have collapsed,” Mr Nandala said.
The petitioners, who call themselves BCU LTD, have written more than 600 petitions since Mr Nandala came into office in 2008.
They accuse his leadership of abuse of office, mismanagement and embezzlement of funds.
The State minister for Cooperatives, Mr Fredrick Ngobi Gume, said petitioners who are not members of the Union should desist from sabotaging the activities of the leadership led by Mr Nandala.
Mr Gume said every month, he receives about 10 petitioners, claiming that the current board is mismanaging the Union with no evidence.
“The petitioners are not farmers under BCU. They are only aiming at tarnishing the name of the board leaders and to make it collapse,” he said.
BACKGROUND
The Union, which was formed in 1954, remains one of Uganda’s few farmer-owned entities that have survived since the closure of the Uganda Cooperative Bank in 1999.
The Union is owned by coffee farmers who are organised in primary societies. Each primary society elects a committee, which manages their affairs.
