BCU parties agree to hold elections

Mbale. The leadership of Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) has agreed to hold elections for its board of directors on Wednesday.
The elections had been scheduled to take place on November 15 at the union premises in Mbale District but they were halted after a group of farmers secured a court order blocking the annual general meeting.
The meeting was called following the suspension of the old leadership led by Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi in August after the High Court in Mbale ruled that they were holding the office illegally following the expiry of their term of office in March.
The farmers led by Mr Julius Nakiyi, who is contesting against Mr Mafabi, had gone to court over what they termed as unfair academic qualifications set by the union to allegedly lock them out of the race.
However, in a November 22, 2018 consent court order, which was signed by both parties before Justice Lydia Mugambe, they agreed that the annual general meeting take place.
“The first respondent hereby waives the O-Level certificate and four-year membership requirement as qualification for those intending to stand for the position of director of the board of the first respondent,” the order reads in part.
“Delegates of primary societies, who wish to be considered for elective positions at the general meeting [and] had not yet submitted their application shall be allowed to submit their application for the same by November 27 at 2pm,” it adds.
The court also ordered the petitioners to streamline, organise and verify its membership with BCU leadership.
When contacted, Mr Nakiyi said: “We agreed because we had scored on key issues, including waiving of academic qualifications.”
He, however, said they were not happy with the time given to organise themselves.
“We are not happy with the timing of the meeting because some societies have not elected their delegates yet we were given six days. Within the bylaws, we are supposed to have 60 days to organise ourselves,” he added.
Mr John Musila, the BCU vice chairperson, confirmed the elections but said Mr Nakiyi was part of a group being used to frustrate BCU.
“He has never been a farmer and he is not a delegate in any registered cooperative society in Bugisu. He is being used,” he said.

Mr Nandala, who is also the MP for Budadiri West and secretary general for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party.