KAMPALA, July 16, 2026 — Hear us, O fields where we once sowed together,
Where hands were many, and the burden was feather.
We gathered in unity, share by share,
To build, to grow, to lift, to care.
But the skies have turned against our toil,
The rains are strangers to our soil.
Drought cracks the earth, floods wash our seed,
Climate has no mercy on our need.
High taxes rise like thorns in our path,
Each receipt a wound, each form a wrath.
We pay for air, we pay for light,
While profit flees into the night.
Stiff competition stalks our door,
Giants with pockets and markets galore.
They buy in bulk, they sell for less,
While our shelves gather dust and distress.
Corruption sits at the meeting table,
Hands that take what hands are able.
Funds meant for members disappear,
And trust, our greatest capital, is no more near.
O Cooperatives, once the hope of the poor,
“Each for all and all for each” we swore.
Now meetings are few, attendance is thin,
And the spirit of togetherness wears too thin.
Yet we lament not to bury, but to rise,
For in our ashes still the ember lies.
If we stand again with truth and might,
If we fight climate, graft, and plight,
Then the sun shall return to our farms,
Taxes shall be fair, and justice disarm.
Competition will sharpen, not kill,
And integrity will guide us still.
Arise, Cooperators, mend the chain,
Let solidarity bloom again.
For when we unite, we do not break,
We are the future we must make.
Written by Alber B. Mukundane [See Main Photo]
Cooperative Agribusiness Management Specialist & African Poet
P.O. Box 1340, Kampala, Uganda
*Tel:* +256772416201
*Email:* mukundanealbertb@gmail.com
Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country-wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news
-
-
-
-
