Key issues that await Bugisu Cooperative Union chair Nandala in new term

The Secretary General of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, has once again been given the mandate to serve as chairperson of the Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU).

Mr Nandala, who is also MP for Budadiri West in Sironko District, was elected unopposed during the 63rd annual general meeting, which took place at the Union headquarters last week.
He has been the chairperson of BCU since 2008.

Others who were elected on the board of nine members include; Mr John Musila as vice chairperson, who is also of the director of Lwakhakha Zone, and Mr Isaiah Sasaga Wanzira, the director of Sironko Valley Zone.

However, the Nandala leadership now faces an uphill task of a trail of demands from coffee farmers, including regaining sold assets and properties such as Mt Elgon hotel found in Mbale city that used to be one of its prime assets.

“We want Nandala board to buy and the Union regains the ownership of Mt Elgon hotel as one of our assets that were sold,” Mr Emmauel Sabunyo Masaba, a delegate from Nabifumuko Growers Cooperative Society in Bulambuli District, said.

Other assets that were sold to former leaders were land on Plot 23 Bishop Wasikye Road, Plot 29 on Eden Road, and 618 acres of land at Doko where Mbale Industrial Park is now situated.

Mr James Wanambwa, a coffee farmer, told the Daily Monitor during an interview on Saturday that the current leadership should ensure that the Union is capitalised to buy coffee by cash.

“The leadership needs to devise means to have enough working capital and this will enable them to buy more coffee and by so doing, they will fight off competition from private companies,” Mr Wanambwa said.

Performance
According to BCU treasurer’s report for the year ended December 31, 2023, coffee purchase was Shs11 billion in 2023 and Shs15 billion in 2022, while income from green beans sales was Shs3 billion in 2023 and Shs5 billion in 2022.

The report further showed that the member societies that delivered a minimum of 2,500 kg of Bugisu coffee declined from 169 in 2022 to 85 in 2023, a drop of 49.7 percent.

The Union milled 291896kgs of parchment and produced 237,198 kgs of graded clean coffee beans, an outturn of 80 percent.  Mr Dennis Wasukira, another coffee farmer, said BCU leaders should avail coffee pulp machines at all primary levels to ensure quality.

“Lack of pulping machines affects the quality of coffee leading to price fluctuations because the taste is not good,” he said.

According to the proposed budget for the year 2024, the Union estimates to bring in Shs63 billion from clean coffee sales, and clean coffee is estimated to sell at Shs15,800 per kg.

Mr Muhamood Masaba, the mayor of Industrial Division in Mbale City, who is also NRM chairperson, Mbale District said the Union should use parts of its savings to prioritise the construction of its university.  “BCU should own its university to support access to higher education,” Mr Masaba said.

The farmers further demanded answers for the continued delay in completing the renovation of Musundi house into a Five Star hotel, which started last year at a cost of Shs5 billion. 

However, Eng Stanley Watenga of Mt Elgon Property Development Ltd, told delegates that they only need four months to finish the remaining work.

“The works are currently at 75 percent and within four months, that work will be completed and ready for handover,” he said.  The critics further say the money allocated to remodel the building is too much and that the space on which it sits cannot accommodate a Five-Star Hotel as the board alleges.

Ms Barbara Wasagali, the general manager of BCU, said they have embarked on aggressive marketing for the Arabica coffee across the globe.

“We are looking for a market for our green coffee beans and Elgon pride and recently we were in China for an exhibition,” she said.

Minister’s appeal
Mr Fredrick Ngobi Ngume, the state minister for Cooperatives, who was the guest of honour during the AGM, warned farmers against selling their coffee to private companies.

He also urged leaders in Bugisu to remove politics from the Union, saying they should work with Mr Nandala whom he referred to as a necessary evil.

On his re-election, Mr Nandala said the Union is safe, adding that production of coffee has risen from 25 million kgs two years ago to about 30 million kgs. 

“We are prospecting to purchase 5m kgs of parchment and sell about 4 million of green beans coffee this year,” Mr Nandala, said.

He said they are planning to buy Mt Elgon hotel back and also to transform BCU Sacco with a capitalisation of about Shs1 billion into the cooperative bank to support farmers to access affordable loans. 

About BCU

Formed in 1954, BCU remains one of the few farmer-led entities in the country that have survived since the closure of the Uganda Cooperative Bank on May 19, 1999.

Operating as a joint marketing point BCU for coffee in Bugisu Sub-region, BCU derives its mandate from member primary societies.

It has 300 primary societies, though Daily Monitor learned that some of the societies are housed in dilapidated structures while others have collapsed or been suspended by current leadership.