MBARARA– Preparations are in high gear as the debt-ridden Banyankole Kweterana Cooperative Union [BKCU] Limited prepares to hold its 49th Annual General Meeting [ AGM ] this Friday, over three weeks from the first date set for the activity.
Julius Tugume, BKCU’s Acting General Manager, said the AGM was supposed to take place on April 29, 2022, but was later rescheduled to allow all the union activities related to the AGM to be finalised.
“Officials from Trade Industry and Cooperatives [MTIC] realised that it was impossible to visit all the primary societies in the short time given and write a report for presentation at the AGM earlier suggested. So the AGM was adjourned to May 20th to create enough time for the exercise to be completed,” Tugume explained.
He said that from April 19th, a team from MTIC, headed by the Assistant Registrar Joseph Lutalo was dispatched to verify the active grassroots primary cooperatives, which subscribe to Banyankole Kweterana Union before the AGM could be held.
“The team realised that out of 89 primary cooperatives that formerly composed BKCU, 18 cooperatives have quit to join Ankole Coffee Producers Cooperative Union [ACPCU] in Sheema district,” he said.
He said the team visited 71 primary cooperatives to ascertain their existence before the AGM is held. Where the primary cooperative societies had no leadership; members were advised to elect the executive committees and the delegates to attend the upcoming AGM, the verification exercise having been concluded in late April.
Tugume said all the 142 delegates were invited to a special general meeting on May 6, 2022, to approve a vetting committee. The committee will scrutinise members who want to be elected to the new board after the former one was suspended on March 11, 2022, by Frederick Ngobi Gume, the State Minister for Cooperatives.
Tugume said the delegates unanimously approved the vetting committee, with members being allowed to apply for positions on the board. “I confirm that we are now ready for the elective AGM on Friday,” Tugume said.
However, Tugume who was entrusted with the caretaking role of the union after the suspension of the former board and management said he has had to carry out union activities without being paid.
“We were ordered not to withdraw any money because all the signatories were suspended. I had to sacrifice everything so that the union activities continued. I even had to talk to some staff to be patient since they have not been paid,” Tugume said
He added that the union lost much of the coffee business during the time when the board and the management were suspended.
“This is the right season for coffee business and our members would be supplying us with coffee but we are now lacking coordination in our branches and the only workers I have on ground are the machine operators who are also demanding me their pay,” Tugume explained.
He further stressed that the union is currently choking on debts heavily incurred during the time of a leadership vacuum.
“We have debts of utilities both at the head office and in branches like UMEME was calling but I told them that let us first finish the AGM. A security company demands us almost Shs 13 million. We also received court bailiffs from Microfinance Support Centre [MSC], they have given us only seven days to clear or they will attach the property of the union,” Tugume said.
Some of the debts, according to Tugume, include; MSC (Shs 1.4bln), security guards (Shs 13.4mln), staff salaries (Shs 9mln), UMEME (Shs 5mln), and Internet (Shs 1mln) among other debts.
He appealed to the members to elect a board that will move BKCU forward rather than indulging in political fights.
“Elected leaders should serve and end their term of office peacefully rather than fighting to overstay on power where the union has lost in settling court cases,” Tugume said
He also encouraged the union to always elect experienced staff to run the union affairs in a competent manner.
“They should employ experienced staff, well-focused on union business rather than employing their relatives and friends because even if they elect a capable board working with unmotivated staff of course they will not perform,” he said.
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