Buhweju farmers say roads too poor to carry their produce

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In Buhweju district, farmers have told Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate James Nathan Nandala Mafabi that poor roads are hurting their agricultural efforts.

For instance, farmers in the mountainous district said they face difficulty transporting tea from their gardens to collection centres.

“Give us your support, and we shall fix your roads in five years,” Nandala told them at a campaign rally on Wednesday (December 10).

“How can your leaders approve loans to build roads in DRC when you cannot even transport food and minerals on your own roads? It is unacceptable.”

The first-time presidential candidate promised at least 200 kilometres of tarmac in every district — including Buhweju — to support agriculture and mining. 

He blamed the poor road infrastructure on corruption.

“Your roads never come because money is stolen before it reaches the district.”

Meanwhile, Nandala described Buhweju as one of Uganda’s richest yet most neglected districts.

“People think western Uganda is well off. But you are suffering. You produce tea, gold, coffee, matooke — everything that would make you prosperous. But you remain poor.”

He claimed that leaders from the region had completely failed to leverage these natural advantages for the benefit of local communities.

“This poverty you are going through is not because you lack resources. It is because the government has failed you.”

The FDC frontman told supporters that the challenges faced by miners and farmers should have been resolved long ago if their leaders had remained committed to the cause.

'Farmers have no support'

Oscar Nuwagaba, a resident of Nsiika Town Council in Buhweju East, said the tea crisis has pushed many into extreme poverty. 

“We lack regulations, that is why people cheat us,” he said. “Gold buyers cheat miners, and middlemen cheat tea farmers. Even sorting a full truck of soil with gold pays only 20,000 to 30,000 Ugandan shillings. For tea, prices keep dropping without explanation. We need a leader who understands these problems.”

On his part, Nandala promised to stop what he called the exploitation of tea farmers by setting up favourable regulations and prices.

“We are going to regulate tea prices. Middlemen will not exploit you. We shall revive cooperative unions that will buy your tea, set fair prices and give you interest-free seed capital to expand production," he said.

Jane Frida Bwiruka, the FDC flagbearer for Woman MP, said Buhweju has long suffered neglect in not only tea and mineral development, but also basic services.

“Apart from the main highway, Buhweju does not even have a single kilometre of tarmac,” she said. 

“Schools are far from children, the health system is weak, and farmers have no support. If the tea sector is properly regulated, it can uplift the whole district.”