Minister to petitioners: Back off BCU activities
Contested. Bugisu Cooperative Union Limited premises in Mbale Town. The union has been marred by conflicts, with the members accusing government of fuelling them. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Background. The petitioners have written more than 600 petitions since Mr Nandala Mafabi came into office in 2008.
MBALE. The State minister for Cooperatives, Mr Fredrick Ngobi Gume, has asked petitioners to stop sabotaging the development of the Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) under the leadership of Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi.
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.
Mr Nandala, the Member of Parliament for Budadiri West in Sironko District and the secretary general for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, was last year re-elected unopposed for the fourth time as BCU chairperson.
Mr Ngobi said during the board of directors’ meeting at the union headquarters at the weekend that the petitioners have become a hindrance to the development of the union.
“These petitioners have a hidden agenda and this endless fighting will kill the union if they do not stop and support the revival efforts by current leadership,” Mr Ngobi said.
He also urged the leaders to ignore the petitioners and concentrate on their work of revitalising the union for the benefit of farmers in the region.
The State minister for Trade, Mr Michael Werikhe, said petitioners are supported by some politicians in Bugisu sub-region who want to bring down the union for selfish reasons.
“We are not ready to entertain rumours by some people trying to bring the union down. The petitioners are fighting everyone in the current BCU leadership as well as in the ministry,” Mr Werikhe said.
The BCU vice chairperson, Mr John Musila, said the union is slowly getting back on its feet amid the prevailing challenges.
“Currently, we have increased the working capital to about Shs15 billion,” he said.
Mr Musila added that they are still demanding about Shs105 billion from the government as compensation for their lost assets during the then insurgencies in the country.
However, Mr John Wamulugwa, the lead petitioner and former vice chairperson of the union, accused some officials in the Ministry of Trade and Cooperatives of being compromised by Mr Nandala.
“We have now resolved to meet the Speaker of Parliament over our pending petitions about corruption scandals in the union,” Mr Wamulugwa said during a meeting of the aggrieved coffee farmers last week.
Looking back
Survival. 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 on May 19, 1999.
