The future of Igara Growers Tea Factory in Bushenyi District is increasingly uncertain as the company grapples with a deepening leadership dispute and a severe capital shortage that has crippled its operations.
The factory, located in Kyamuhunga, a renowned tea growing area in Bushenyi, is currently divided by two rival factions battling for control of the company’s leadership. The conflict has caused many shareholders and tea farmers to stop supplying the factory with green leaf, further weakening its production capacity.
Willis Bashasha, who heads an interim board formed by disgruntled tea farmers, said the crisis worsened after farmers who had resumed supplying tea leaves were not paid.
“When we met last year, we unanimously resolved that we rally farmers to bring back the leaf to the factory because the challenge then was that business was low and there was no leaf. The farmers responded positively and brought the leaf but, to our shock, even when they brought the leaf, they have never been paid,” Bashasha said.
Igara Growers Tea Factory is one of the oldest tea processing plants in the region but has for years struggled with management disputes that have dragged the company into prolonged leadership battles and financial difficulties.
According to the company’s regulations, the term of office for the current board of directors was supposed to end in October last year. However, an Annual General Meeting (AGM) convened to elect a new board was halted after a High Court order barred the meeting from proceeding, allowing the current leadership to remain in office pending the court’s decision.
In response, hundreds of disgruntled farmers gathered near the factory premises and elected an interim board chaired by Bashasha. The group is now seeking court intervention to allow them to organise a legally recognised AGM to elect a substantive board.
“We are very desperate because the factory is at zero business and we can only salvage it through the AGM because it is from there that we can choose leaders who can determine the next course of direction,” Bashasha added.
However, the current board leadership has rejected the move.
Sam Muhereza, the current chairman of the board of directors, described the Bashasha-led group as individuals seeking power without following the proper legal procedures.
“In the law, whatever they are doing is suicidal. First of all, those fighting to get into the leadership of this factory are not tea suppliers. They have never supplied leaf but are simply diverting farmers to enrich their selfish interests,” Muhereza said.
During a consultative meeting held at Bushenyi Municipal offices, disgruntled tea farmers resolved to petition the court to expedite the case before the factory collapses completely.
Julius Mutahunga, one of the farmers, accused the current leadership of mismanaging the factory and failing to pay farmers.
“All these issues you are seeing at the factory are because the current board has entrenched its stay at the helm. Every money that now comes goes straight to their pockets instead of paying the farmers. We are in a total crisis,” Mutahunga said.
Muhereza dismissed the allegations, saying the farmers making the accusations do not understand how the factory operates.
“There is a finance office at the factory, auditors and everyone. These people saying we are stealing the factory’s money are simply naive,” he said.
Veteran politician and tea farmer Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere called for court intervention to resolve the dispute between the two factions.
“Not even the current board or the interim can resolve these issues. These are issues of the law and it is the court to handle,” Kabwegyere said.
The factory is currently struggling with billions of shillings in debt and has failed to pay both farmers and workers for about six months. As a result, many farmers have stopped supplying green leaf, further reducing production levels.
Even as the parties await the court’s decision, reports indicate that the current board plans to hold another meeting at the factory on Saturday, although its agenda remains unclear.
Bushenyi Resident District Commissioner Emmy Ngabirano urged all stakeholders to remain calm as the dispute is resolved.
“We appeal to all stakeholders, be it farmers, the current board or the interim leadership, to exercise maximum discipline and remain peaceful until we conclude the Annual General Meeting,” Ngabirano said.
