BUSHENYI, October 25, 2025 – The Igara Growers Tea Factory in Kyamuhunga, Bushenyi district, is once again embroiled in a bitter leadership dispute after the High Court, through a court order, halted the confirmation of the new Board of Directors. The development has prompted frustrated farmers to form an interim committee and petition President Museveni to intervene in a crisis that has crippled the iconic factory for years.
The latest standoff follows the expiry of the outgoing Board of Directors’ term and marks the culmination of years of internal wrangles, financial woes, and heavy debts that have threatened the factory’s operations and frustrated thousands of tea farmers in Bushenyi District.
Court injunction stops AGM
On October 17, 2025, shareholders convened for the factory’s Annual General Meeting [AGM] to confirm the newly elected Board of Directors. However, the proceedings were abruptly halted when the board was served with an Interim Court Order issued by Justice Simon Peter Kinobe, restraining the company from confirming the new company leadership until pending court cases are resolved.
“An interim order doth issue restraining the respondent (Igara Growers Tea Factory Limited), its officers, or any other person acting under its authority, from conducting, proceeding with confirming, or in any way holding the election of directors-elect at its General Meeting presently scheduled for 17th October 2025, pending the hearing and final determination of Company Cause No. 36 of 2025,” reads part of the order signed on October 16, 2025.
The injunction reportedly shocked the outgoing board, prompting the Chairperson, Sam Muhereza Karumira, to suspend the meeting and call in police to disperse the gathering.
However, some shareholders criticised the decision, accusing Muhereza of misinterpreting the order. Willis Bashasha, a shareholder who also serves as Director of the NRM Manifesto Implementation Unit, argued:
“The order was only stopping the confirmation of directors-elect, not the entire meeting. We don’t know why the chairman stopped the whole AGM.”
Counsel George Lukwago of Tumukunde & Co. Advocates added that the interim committee must notify the Registrar of Companies to legitimise its operations.
In response, Mr Muhereza defended his actions, insisting the board had no choice but to comply.
“We had prepared everything—tents, sound systems…only to receive a court order the night before the meeting. If those behind it loved the factory, they should have served us earlier,” he said.
The Igara Growers Tea Factory, one of Uganda’s oldest farmer-owned tea processing companies, serves thousands of smallholder farmers across Bushenyi, Buhweju, and Sheema districts. Over five years of steady decline, heavy debt, and alleged corruption have eroded farmers’ confidence, compromised green leaf quality, and tarnished the company’s image.
Farmers form interim committee and petition President Museveni
Following the aborted AGM, a section of farmers regrouped and unanimously resolved to form an interim management committee to oversee factory affairs and restore its “lost glory”.
Speaking as interim committee chair, Bashasha said the move was a temporary arrangement to fill the leadership vacuum.
“This is just a temporary arrangement to restore order and confidence among our farmers. We want to encourage them to resume supplying green leaf to the factory and maintain quality until leadership is legitimised,” he said.
Outgoing Chairperson Muhereza immediately dismissed the committee as illegal.
“Whatever they are doing is bush politics. This company runs on laws and guidelines. You can’t just sit under a tree and declare yourself management. That is a hoax,” he insisted, maintaining that the old board remains in full control until a new one is legally approved.
Adding another twist to the saga, a separate group of farmers wrote to the President on 18 October 2025, requesting his intervention to resolve the factory’s impasse. They also accused NRM leader Willis Bashasha of stirring confusion.
In a letter titled “Request to Call Mr Willis Bashasha to Order”, the petitioners appealed to the President to restrain the senior government official from interfering. Copies were sent to key cabinet ministers and local leaders.
“We, the undersigned farmers who are shareholders in Igara Growers Tea Factory, request you to intervene and restrain Mr Willis Bashasha, who has brought so much confusion into our company,” part of the letter reads.
The petitioners further alleged that Bashasha—who recently lost in the zonal elections for directors—had “connived with Justice Simon Peter Kinobe and another election loser” to obtain the court order.
“Thereafter, Mr Bashasha led a group of people to another venue where he purported to elect himself as Chairman of the Board of Directors,” the letter adds, concluding that his actions were destabilising the company and undermining the rule of law.
Background
The Igara Growers Tea Factory Limited [IGTF] is a key pillar of the economy in south-western Uganda, serving thousands of smallholder farmers across Bushenyi, Buhweju, and Sheema districts.
Established in 1969 as a government initiative to reduce poverty, Igara was one of four smallholder tea factories set up by the Uganda Tea Growers Corporation [UTGC]. After nearly collapsing during the political instability of the 1970s, IGTF underwent a ten-year rehabilitation project funded by the European Union. It was successfully privatised to its smallholder farmers between 1995 and 2000, achieving full farmer ownership.
Today, the company is 100 percent owned by nearly 7,000 smallholder farmers and operates two processing plants: Igara Tea Factory and Buhweju Tea Factory [established as a Presidential Pledge in 2006/2010]. With a turnover of nearly Shs 50 billion and contributing around 10 percent of Uganda’s total tea production, IGTF has long been celebrated as the country’s “model smallholder tea factory”, exporting high-quality black tea to international markets including the UK, Pakistan, and Egypt.
Igara Tea Factory was constructed in 2010, with a processing capacity of at least 10 tonnes per day, based on projected output of 5–7 tonnes from farmers.
However, the factory has suffered over five years of steady decline, struggling with persistent leadership challenges, mounting debts, and allegations of corruption. This turmoil has eroded farmers’ trust, compromised the quality of green leaf, and tarnished the company’s reputation, prompting many to withdraw their membership.
Plummeting tea prices push farmers towards Hass avocado
Amid leadership squabbles and falling tea prices, many farmers in Buhweju district have begun shifting their focus to Hass avocado farming as a more lucrative alternative to improve household income.
Uganda’s black tea currently averages just US$ 0.99 per kilogramme at the Mombasa auction—a price farmers say is below production costs.
“We needed an alternative crop to sustain our families, and Hass avocados offer a promising solution,” said Kwirino Nuwamanya, a tea farmer in Buhweju.
Recognising the opportunity, Annet Oyes Byamukama, the Woman MP flagbearer for Buhweju District, has established model farms to promote Hass avocado cultivation.
“Our goal is to demonstrate that Buhweju can become a hub for high-quality avocado production. We are encouraging farmers to start small as we work with the government to provide certified seedlings,” she said.
In Uganda, Hass avocados sell for between Shs 1,500 and Shs 2,000 [approximately £0.35–£0.45) per kilogramme locally, while export-quality fruits fetch up to Shs3,500. An acre of Hass avocado can reportedly generate more than Shs 100 million within ten years.
Byamukama urged stakeholders to support the initiative by empowering smallholder farmers, investing in value addition, strengthening regulations, and helping farmers form cooperatives. However, she cautioned against uprooting tea gardens, stressing:
“Farmers can grow both tea and Hass avocados together to maximise household income.”
https://thecooperator.news/lack-of-tea-policy-affecting-ugandas-farmers/
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