Court halts Bugisu Cooperative Union elections

KAMPALA. The High Court in Kampala has halted the election for the board of directors of Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU).
The elections had been scheduled to take place on Thursday at BCU premises.
The annual general meeting to vote new leaders was called following the suspension of the old leadership, led by Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, in August after High Court in Mbale ruling that they were holding the office illegally following the expiry of their term of office in March.
But the November 14 court order signed by lady Justice Lydia Mugambe, which Saturday Monitor has seen, restrained the BCU leadership and registrar of cooperatives societies from holding the said meeting until the main application is heard.
“The annual general meeting of the 1st respondent scheduled for November 15 is stayed until November 22 when the application for the temporary injunction and or the main application for the judicial review shall be heard, or on such other directives of the court,” the court document reads in part.
The order follows a petition by Budidi Grower’s Cooperative Society Ltd, one of the primary societies out of 300, which make up the Union. The aggrieved society members claimed there were irregularities in the electoral rules set by the Union.
Mr Julius Nakiyi, the lead petitioner, said they went to court to get redress over what he termed as illegal academic requirements set by the Union to eliminate them from the race.
When Daily Monitor visited the Union premises, more than 600 delegates from different primary societies, who had turned up for the meeting, were stranded after police blocked them.
The Elgon Regional Police Commander, Mr Abraham Betongyeza, said they deployed to stop the meeting after they received court order.

Reporting by Fred Wambede, Michael Woniala & Yahudu Kitunzi