Bugisu Union chokes on petitions

Mbale- Formed in 1954, Bugisu Co-operative Union (BCU) remains one of Uganda’s few farmer-owned entities that have survived since the closure of the Uganda Co-operative Bank on May 19, 1999.
Operating as a joint marketing point for the coffee in Bugisu sub-region, BCU derives its core mandate from member primary societies.
Each primary society is represented by two delegates from whom the board of directors is elected.

However, its future hangs in the balance as the management is overwhelmed with more than 563 petitions from members who are dissatisfied with the current leadership.
Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the Budadiri West Member of Parliament, is the reigning chairperson of BCU board, but his leadership has faced a host of challenges since he took over office in 2008.
Mr Mafabi, a renowned economist, became chairperson of the board after the dissolution of the Mr Stephen Wakyaya team by the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry.
The petitioners, who refer to themselves as “BCU LTD”, including former BCU members, accuse the current leadership of abuse of office, mismanagement and embezzlement of funds.
However, the Mafabi’s team has dismissed the allegations.

Mr Paul Mugoya, the chairperson of BCU Elders’ Forum, believes the petitioners are becoming an encumbrance at a time when revival efforts are needed.
Mr Mugoya, who is also a delegate to the BCU general assembly, told Daily Monitor during an interview; “Instead of designing future strategies of uplifting the union, they (leaders) spend a lot of time and resources attending to summons over false allegations raised by selfish individuals.”
Currently, the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate is investigating both the former and current co-operative leadership over alleged cases of abuse of office, embezzlement and the financial loss the entity has suffered since 1995.

“It’s alleged that these offences were committed during the tenure of your office and the current board chairman,” the letter addressed to Mr John Wamulungwa, the former vice chairperson of the board, reads in part.

Mr Wamulungwa claimed responsibility for masterminding the petitions the farmers filed with the police and different government offices because “they are not happy with the state of affairs at the union.”
“We have written more than 400 petitions but the responsible government officers have not been apprehended, except the Inspector General of Police who has instituted the ongoing investigations into fraud in the union,” he says.
Mr Wamulungwa says they have continuously filed petitions because the BCU leadership has ignored pertinent issues raised in meetings.
“When you stay with a problem, it affects you in the long run. The petitions will take them to prison,” he says.

Mr Wamulungwa and other former board members are accused of selling BCU properties including land on Plot 23 Bishop Wasike Road, Plot 29 Eden road, Mt Elgon Hotel -all in Mbale Town and also 618 acres of land at Doko on the Mbale-Tirinyi Road during their tenure.
He, however, acknowledged the selling of properties in what he claims to be “a lawful move” aimed at settling debts incurred during procurement of a Shs5.2 billion processing machine.

In a September 18 petition signed by Wamulungwa, Robert Wanzala and Gibson Gidagui, and addressed to the general manager BCU and registrar of cooperative societies, the union leadership is accused of misusing Shs9.2 billion received from government in 2015.
“Despite the fact that the union received Shs9.2 billion from the government in 2015, there are no funds to carry out meaningful coffee business,” the petition reads in part.

But the current leaders deny the allegations, saying the money was compensation for the losses the union incurred when the government suspended its board in 2010.
“The government had even refused to give us the last installment because of their endless false petitions against the union. But I managed to persuade the President and the money was released,” Mr Magoya, says.
Mr Mugoya claims the union lost Shs9.2 billion due to their petitions but the government compensated them.

During a special annual general meeting last Friday in Mbale Town, Mr Mafabi revealed that the petitions against his leadership have affected the smooth running of the union.
“It poses a big challenge but there is no need to worry. Those cases will not swallow us,” he says.

Mr Mafabi alleges that petitioners are being funded by multi-national coffee dealers with the ultimate intention of squeezing the local entity out of business.
“If they were using their money, they would have given up because printing and photocopying 50 paged documents and distributing them to various offices is too expensive to be sustained for long,” he says.
Mr Mafabi assures the members that his leadership is ready to deal with the petitions which he said arose from “malicious allegations” by a small group.

Last year, he told the annual general meeting that despite challenges, his leadership had tirelessly increased the working capital for the union from a deficit of Shs782m to Shs7.4 billion by 2015.
Speaking to Daily Monitor at the weekend, Mr John Musila, the vice chairperson of BCU, said the union is bigger than the individuals and that they will do whatever it takes to save it.

“BCU is a symbol of unity and prosperity for Bamasaaba. We will not allow individuals to bring it down,” he said. Mr Musila said the new partnership with Gumutindo Cooperative Coffee Enterprise (GCC) is one of the strong indicators that the union will continue fighting for better market shares against the multi-national dealers.
The Gumutindo enterprise was established in 1997 as a brain child of BCU, with a sole aim of improving the quality of Arabic coffee but later became autonomous following leadership gaps then.
At that time, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding that saw BCU specialise in marketing of conventional coffee while GCC dealt in only organic Arabic coffee.
Currently, according to Mr Musila, a new partnership has been signed to jointly save GCC from collapsing.

During the Friday annual general meeting, Mr Joseph Williams Kitandwe, the commissioner of cooperatives in the Ministry of Trade, acknowledged receipt of the petitions.
He said there is need to end the infighting between the former and current leadership because it stifles the growth of the union.

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