Cooperative union gets Shs6b boost

The government has given Shs6 billion to the Masaka Cooperative Union (MCU) in a bid to revive the 68-year-old cooperative union.

The money is part of the Shs17 billion debt government owes the cooperative.
MCU, like other traditional cooperative unions in Uganda suffered a setback in the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of political instability at the time, resulting in many cooperatives shutting down.

According to Mr Emmanuel Senyonga, the general manager of MCU, they have drawn a rehabilitation plan for the cooperative after receiving some funding from the central government and work is underway to enable it regain its past glory.

“It is true government deposited Shs6 billion into the account of the cooperative union and we have already started on the work to rehabilitate some of the dilapidated structures of the cooperative in Masaka Town and construction of a new coffee processing plant at Kyabakuza on the Masaka –Mbarara highway,” Mr Ssenyonga said in an interview last Saturday.

He said the struggle to get a Shs6 billion boost from the government has taken them 20 years.

They are now appealing to the government to clear the entire debt, which includes a fleet of vehicles which were used by the National Resistence Army rebels during the war that brought President Museveni to power in 1986.

So far, Mr Ssenyonga says the union has managed to employ more than 40 youth in various projects in a bid to improve the livelihood of people in Masaka Sub-region.

“We have also embarked on reviving our coffee growers’ cooperative societies spread across this sub-region and so far 86 of them have been reopened and efforts are underway to recruit more to hit our original target of 300 cooperative societies,” he added

Mr Joseph Kavuma Mwanje, the MCU Board chairperson, explained that part of compensation money has been used to start a farmers’ savings and credit cooperative society-(Sacco) that will provide affordable credit facilities to members through their respective primary societies.

“Some Shs500 million of the money we received from government has been earmarked for the Sacco and the balance has been injected into other union projects,” he said.

The cooperative has ongoing projects which include nursery beds of fruit trees and South African eucalyptus clone tree seedlings, disease resistant coffee varieties and an agro – chemical shop located in Masaka Town.

He said construction of a coffee processing plant, which will add value to coffee beans, is underway at Kyabakuza in Masaka Town.

MCU is one of the traditional cooperative unions in Uganda.

Others are Banyankole Kweterana Cooperative Union and Bugisu Cooperative Union.