Nandala bounces back as BCU chairperson

MBALE. The secretary general of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, has been voted back as chairperson of Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) after his rival, Mr Julius Nakiyi, pulled out of the race, one day to the elections.
Mr Nandala, who also doubles as the Member of Parliament of Budadiri West in Sironko District, was voted unopposed to serve his fourth term during the BCU annual general meeting, which took place on Wednesday at the Union premises.
The annual general meeting was called following the suspension of the old board led by Mr Nandala in August this year after High Court in Mbale ruled that they were holding the office illegally following the expiry of their term of office in March.
The elections were scheduled to take place on November 15 but they were halted after a group of farmers led by Mr Nakiyi secured a court order blocking the annual general meeting over what they termed as unfair academic qualifications set by the Union to allegedly lock them out of the race.
When declared unopposed by Fredrick Ngobi Gume, the State Minister for Cooperatives, who was the guest of hanour, Mr Nandala said the gesture by the delegates to vote him again proved beyond doubt the trust they have in his leadership.
“The delegates have proved the trust they have in my leadership and we are going to work hard to put to shame the people who were hired to fight the Union,” he said.
More than 600 delegates from different primary societies in Bugisu region, which comprises Mbale, Sironko, Bulambuli, Manafwa, Namisindwa and Bududa districts attended.

Origin
BCU was formed and registered in 1954 to grow Arabica coffee in the region. It currently has more than 277 primary societies.
Mr Nandala said coffee is a powerful weapon that Bamasaba people should take advantage of to fight poverty in their households.
“Coffee is [the] only the crop, which was left to us by our ancestors, with potential to uplift us from poverty,” he said.
Mr Nandala also urged the farmers to the improve quality on the coffee in order to fetch higher prices.
Mr Bob Mushikori, the cultural leader of the Bamasaba, who also attended the meeting, urged government to stop fighting Nandala’s leadership but support him to develop the union of his people.
“I ask government to support Nandala for the good of Bamasaba people,’ he said.
He, however, urged Mr Nandala to prove wrong the people who called him a thief during this term of leadership.
The State Minister for Cooperatives, Mr Gume, cautioned the members against disunity. “I urge the cooperative members not to listen to the people who want to divert them from developing the union,” he said.
He said the court petitions are negatively affecting the Union
However, Mr Nakiyi said he pulled out of the race because they were not happy with the court for giving them only 6 days instead of 60 days to organise themselves and participate in the elections.
“We were given six days. Within the bylaws, we are supposed to have 60 days to organise ourselves,” he said. He, however, maintained that his war against bad governance in the Union will continue.

BCU Story Background

In 2010, the government suspended the BCU board led by Mr Nandala on allegations that his board had falsified the books of accounts.
The government then appointed a committee to investigate BCU operations between 2003 and 2010 but the committee failed to release the report.
This consequently prompted the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to order another forensic audit in 2013 to look at accounts from 1996 to 2010.
The report exonerated Mr Nandala of causing any financial loss to the union and he was in 2014 voted back as chairperson by the delegates.
But the disgruntled farmers, who include former BCU leaders have continued to accuse his leadership of abuse of office, mismanagement and embezzlement of funds. They have written more than 400 petitions.
Mr Nandala says the petitioners have become an encumbrance as they try to revival the Union.