08/06/2026
*KANUNGU TEA FARMERS CLARIFY 30 PERCENT CONTRIBUTION AMID PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE AND STATE HOUSE ANTI-CORRUPTION UNIT (SHACU) VERIFICATION*
Following a directive issued by the President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, under Reference No. PO/17 dated 22nd February 2026, directing the Attorney General to examine concerns regarding a 30 percent deduction from payments to tea nursery bed operators in Kanungu District, detailed clarifications have been presented by the majority of affected farmers outlining the historical, administrative, policy, and legal background of the matter.
The presidential directive followed a formal petition from a section of operators citing irregular deductions from government compensation arising from High Court Civil Suit No. 889 of 2019. In immediate response, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) carried out extensive verification exercises in Kanungu District from 3rd to 5th June 2026.
The crucial stakeholder engagements were held at Kanungu District Council Hall on 3rd June, Mpungu Sub-county Council Hall on 4th June, and Kayonza Sub-county Council Hall also on 4th June 2026, with a concluding consolidation meeting held on 5th June 2026 at the district level.
Speaking during the meetings convened by State House Anti-! Corruption Unit (SHACU) in Kanungu District, Mr. Frank Byaruhanga Farauh, the District Speaker of Kanungu and Chairperson of Tea Nursery Bed Operators in Kigezi and Ankole, gave a detailed account of how the tea nursery bed programme began and how the disputed 30 percent contribution came about.
According to Mr. Byaruhanga, the story traces its foundation back to the historic Presidential visit of H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to Kanungu District from 1st to 4th September 2008 under the _“Bonna Bagagawale”_ wealth creation initiative. During this regional tour, the President assessed development across all sub-counties and observed that while Kanungu had a strong tea economy, production volumes were insufficient to sustain local factory operations. At that time, Kayonza Tea Growers Factory was already producing approximately Shs 8 billion annually. What you forgot was about 55 bn income from green leaf to the tea farmers as per 2028 to 2019 years.
Another factory under Kinkiizi Development Company, spearheaded by the late Dr. James Musinguzi Garuga in Rugyeyo, had also been established but was severely struggling because there was an insufficient supply of raw materials and green leaf to process. District leadership present during the tour—including the then District Chairperson Canon Josephine Kasya, the late Dr. James Musinguzi Garuga, Mr. Frank Byaruhanga Farauh, and other technical officials—informed the President that although factories were being established, tea production remained too low to sustain them.
On 4th September 2008, at Mpungu Sub-county Council Hall, and also during visits to Nyakabungo, the President committed government support for massive tea expansion and pledged 30 million tea seedlings to strengthen production, feed the processing factories, and boost rural household incomes. The programme actively encouraged local farmers to establish tea nurseries and tea plantations throughout Kanungu.
As tea production expanded, the Rugyeyo factory and other processors gained access to more raw materials, while many local farmers earned substantial income from raising seedlings and supplying tea plants. Encouraged by the growing demand and government promises, many residents invested heavily in tea nursery beds. Some local farmers sold their personal property, while others borrowed large sums of money from commercial banks and informal money lenders to establish nurseries, fully expecting government support programmes to continue purchasing their seedlings.
The success recorded in Kanungu later inspired government plans to expand tea growing across the entire Kigezi and Ankole regions. Following the initial Presidential directive, implementation was guided through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries under the then Minister, Hon. Tress Bucyanayandi, with technical coordination from NAADS and later Operation Wealth Creation structures.
Between 2013 and 2015, government policy shifted toward decentralized seedling production. President Museveni directed the Ministry of Agriculture to instruct districts across Kigezi and Ankole to establish tea nursery beds locally. This was intended to reduce the high transport losses and logistical damages previously experienced when seedlings had to be sourced and transported from Bushenyi and other distant districts.
The President emphasized local production, distribution efficiency, and the rapid expansion of tea acreage across highland districts. A key National coordination meeting was held at State Lodge Gulu, where 18 selected leaders from the Kigezi and Ankole regions met H.E. the President to assess tea sector expansion requirements. During this high-level meeting, technical teams and regional leaders calculated seedling requirements and production capacity targets. It was established that the implementation of full tea expansion across all districts would require approximately UGX 220 billion to establish sufficient nursery capacity, plantation coverage, and stable factory supply chains across the two regions. The overriding objective was to ensure that every district developed sufficient tea production capacity to feed processing factories and support rural household income transformation.
By 2014 and 2015, tea growing had expanded significantly across Kigezi and Ankole. Farmers invested heavily in tea plantations and nursery beds, believing the government would continue supporting the programme consistently. In 2015, President Museveni toured several tea-growing areas in Kigezi—including Kabale, Kisoro, and Kanungu to monitor progress. During his visit, he inspected the booming tea nursery beds and plantations. A crowning milestone of this visit was that the President officially commissioned Rugyeyo Community Hospital.
This vital healthcare facility was constructed through the dedicated, collective efforts led by local tea nursery operators and the late Dr. James Musinguzi Garuga under Kinkiizi Development Company, standing as a direct symbol of how the tea sector's growth was fueling community development and public health.
Despite clear policy intentions, major implementation challenges emerged between 2013 and 2016 due to delayed seedling uptake, planting inefficiencies, and inconsistent coordination between individual districts and central government agencies. Tea seedlings raised by farmers were not being collected and distributed as expected. Farmers and district officials including Chief Administrative Officers, Resident District Commissioners, and District Chairpersons submitted multiple reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and NAADS seeking urgent intervention.
However, central response delays created an accumulation of unplanted seedlings. Thousands of seedlings remained in nursery beds beyond the recommended planting period, causing operators to become increasingly worried as stock overgrown and faced severe damages due to prolonged drought and harsh weather conditions.
In November 2016, leaders representing the frustrated nursery bed operators formally petitioned H.E. the President and the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister requesting urgent intervention. Following receipt of the complaint, the President directed that the tea seedlings be verified, planted, and that nursery bed operators be compensated for administrative costs such as loading, transportation, and handling, alongside compensation for the seedlings supplied under the programme.
This directive was not fully implemented, prompting continued complaints. Subsequent engagements involved the Office of the Prime Minister, with the Rt. Hon. Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda leading ministry-level coordination meetings.
These included technical review sessions chaired under the Prime Minister’s office, with delegated participation from the Minister for Economic Monitoring.
A total of fourteen structured engagement meetings were held and chaired by the Prime Minister between 2016 and 2017 to address implementation bottlenecks. Some leaders, including the then State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Dr. Kasirivu Atwooki, personally visited the affected areas and confirmed the physical existence of large quantities of uncollected tea seedlings in the nursery beds. By 2017, many seedlings had overstayed in the nurseries, and substantial numbers were completely ruined by harsh weather.
On 10th May 2018, a major general meeting bringing together tea nursery bed operators from across the Kigezi and Ankole regions was convened at Rukungiri District Council Hall to deliberate on the delayed government payments and to determine the legal way forward regarding compensation claims. The meeting was widely attended by regional stakeholders, and the Guest of Honour was General Jim Muhwezi, the Minister for Security.
During the meeting, members resolved to pursue formal legal action against the government to recover the money owed to farmers. However, pursuing a massive lawsuit required substantial resources. Court filing fees, legal representation, transport, and administrative expenses needed funding, yet many nursery operators had already exhausted their savings and assets. To manage this, the members established a structured legal coordination committee to manage the case and coordinate representation in court.
Mr. Frank Byaruhanga Farauh of Kanungu District was appointed as the Chairperson of the Kigezi and Ankole Tea Nursery Bed Operators, a position through which he led the coordination of the legal process as the Lead Plaintiff in the case, Mr. George Owakukiroru of Rukungiri District as Vice Chairperson, and Mr. Tumwesimira Caleb Kipande of Kanungu District as Secretary. The committee members included Dr. Francis Runumi from Kabale District, Mr. Kanyamunyu Fidelis from Kisoro District, Mr. Tumushabe Julius from Mitooma District, Eng. Arineitwe Sam Kajojo representing Mitooma District, and Reverend Byamugisha Bernard, as the Chairperson of the Kanungu District Tea Nursery Bed Operators chapter.
The committee was mandated to coordinate the legal case, mobilize resources for court processes, and pursue the recovery of approximately UGX 143 billion owed for verified tea seedlings supplied. It was established that just one percent of this amount, equivalent to UGX 143 million, would be required immediately for URA-related statutory obligations and initial case filing requirements.
Because the nursery bed operators did not have the financial capacity to raise the required UGX 143 million for URA and court filing obligations, the members passed explicit financing resolutions in their general assembly.
Under this collective agreement, it was unanimously resolved that individual farmers would retain 70 percent of any recovered funds, while the remaining 30 percent would be strictly allocated to cover legal fees, URA statutory obligations, administrative expenses, transport, loan repayments, and operational costs incurred by committee members during the prolonged court process.
The farmers agreed to structured financing arrangements, including legal credit facilities and operational borrowing, in order to financially sustain the case through the court system.
The resolution was formally documented, signed by members, and later reaffirmed during subsequent meetings attended by district leaders, government officials, and nursery bed operators across the region. The matter was filed under High Court Civil Suit No. 889 of 2019 and concluded successfully with a consent judgment on 8th January 2021, compelling the government to begin compensating the operators.
The government subsequently released payments in phases during the 2021 and 2022 financial years, with additional interest payments processed thereafter, all of which were deposited directly into individual farmers' bank accounts.
The Present Conflict: The Petitioners' Claims vs. Leadership Standing,
On 26th August 2025, H.E. the President issued a directive ordering the release of outstanding obligations amounting to UGX 112 billion owed to the tea seedling suppliers. Following this, in December 2025, the government released an additional UGX 14.9 billion explicitly processed as interest on the principal amount.
Following these major disbursements, a section of tea nursery bed operators—led by a petitioner from Kanungu District and supported by additional operators from Kanungu raised serious objections regarding the implementation of the 30 percent deduction mechanism, forming the basis of the current SHACU investigation.
The petitioners stated that following these payments, they were asked to sign standing orders of 30 percent deductions totalling UGX 11.7 billion, citing that this was for legal fees. They noted that in desperation, considering that many farmers had lost property to banks and money lenders, they accepted the terms albeit begrudgingly. They further stressed their objection by pointing out that the court had already awarded costs for the case, meaning legal fees should ideally be covered by that award.
In their direct communication to the President, the petitioners wrote that Your Excellency, farmers have learnt with joy that you ordered the release of UGX 112,000,000,000 under your letter dated 26 August 2025. Unfortunately, their joy was short-lived as they were reminded of the 30 percent deduction to cover legal fees. The dissenting farmers appealed for a careful, protective review by the government to avoid a recurrence of financial exploitation and severe financial stress among vulnerable rural farmers in future settlements.
During the verification exercises conducted by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) from 3rd to 5th June 2026 across Kanungu District, association leadership reported a completely different dynamic. They noted that during the verification meetings held at Kanungu District Council Hall, Mpungu Sub-county Council Hall, and Kayonza Sub-county Council Hall, 310 out of 313 verified members explicitly confirmed their voluntary agreement to the 30 percent contribution based on the historical resolutions signed in Rukungiri. They maintained that the beneficiaries voluntarily remitted the agreed 30 percent contribution willingly as their committed obligation.
The association leadership firmly maintains that the 30 percent contribution originated from formally adopted, legally binding resolutions during the legal process and was the only financial mechanism that successfully supported the heavy litigation and operational costs incurred in securing the multi-billion shilling compensation for farmers across Kigezi and Ankole. The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) is currently consolidating its findings from the district-level meetings and is expected to finalize and submit its official report to the President following the completion of this verification exercise.
*Call to Action*
The leadership of Kanungu District extends its profound appreciation to H.E. the President for his enduring commitment to eradication of poverty through the tea sector. Since the President's historic 2008 visit—when the district relied on a single factory generating Shs 8 billion annually—Kanungu has undergone a massive transformation, now boasting seven operational processing factories across various localities. This expanded production acreage currently generates an impressive Shs 55 billion in annual income for local farmers.
Despite recent challenges concerning green leaf price fluctuations, the market is steadily normalizing toward Shs 400 to Shs 450 per kilogram, and leaders remain highly optimistic that prices will soon return to the standard Shs 550 benchmark.
In light of these achievements, district leadership calls upon the President to intervene and resolve the minor complaints currently surrounding the project.
While the vast majority of tea farmers are fully aligned and satisfied with the current arrangements a small minority remains discontented, and leaders are confident that presidential guidance will harmoniously resolve these lingering concerns.
The district appeals to the President to sustain his strategic funding and support for Kanungu’s tea operations, ensuring the continuous growth of household incomes and the socio-economic transformation of the common man.
Published by: Kanungu District Local Government
Issued by: Twogyeirwe Mwajuma Twaha Adams, District Communications Officer
