Forgotten hills rise up from sleep
Jun 09, 2010
FOR the past five years since Harriet Kyogabirwe acquired a cell phone, she has been sending it to Bushenyi, about 50km away, to be charged. Her home area, Nyakashaka, in Buhweju County has never had electricity.
By Chris Ahimbisibwe
FOR the past five years since Harriet Kyogabirwe acquired a cell phone, she has been sending it to Bushenyi, about 50km away, to be charged. Her home area, Nyakashaka, in Buhweju County has never had electricity.
“We would spend almost a week waiting for our phones to come from charging,†Kyogabirwe says.
In the 1960s, Milton Obote, the then president of Uganda, pledged to extend hydro electricity and construct a tea factory in Buhweju but the promise was never fulfilled.
When Idi Amin came to power in the 1970s he made a similar pledge which never came to pass. On his second coming, in the 1980s, Obote again made the pledge which he never honour.
After capturing power in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni, visited the area and promised to deliver the projects but the residents were pessimistic — they had seen it all, heard all, and learnt to regard it as mere politicking.
Now, over 45 since the first the pledge was made, the residents are witnessing the initial signs; soon, the inhabitants of these remote but rich agricultural hills will see the light at a mere click on the switch.
With a new tea factory under construction, the residents of this tea-growing area will no longer have to wait for days to transport their green leaf to Kyamuhunga, about 80km away, for processing.
The two projects, hopefully, will trigger development and eradicate poverty in the area that has always been described as hard-to-reach.
Communication too will be easy and business will boom as they will charge their car batteries, do metal welding, open up restaurants, bars and salons and be able to watch World Cup.
Erieza Kafureeka, an elder, says throughout his life, he had never thought such a thing would come to Buhweju. “We have been neglected for long by successive governments. At least now we are beginning to see some light. We can enjoy some cold drinks which used to be a far off dream.
“And with the construction of the tea factory, we expect a big boost in development.â€
In 1984, the Government acquired land from Burere sub county and leveled it. The sub county headquarters were then moved to Nyakashaka to allow construction of the tea factory.
Twenty-seven years down the road, the land the Government bought from the former Uganda Tea Growers Corporation (UTGC) (the company was later sold to Igara Growers Tea Factory) has been lying idle.
In September 2009, Trust Builders Ltd won a sh10b tender from Igara Growers Tea Factory Ltd to construct a factory that will process over 60,000kg of green leaf per day.
The structures to be put up include a main factory, a boiler house, a firewood house, a generator house, a garage house, an administration block and an input store.
“We are now fabricating the pillars to start structures,†said Abubaker Zziwa, the site engineer. According to Zziwa they expect construction to be complete by November 2010. The acquisition and installation of the machinery will be done by Igara Growers Tea Factory.
Gold mine remembered
According to Igara Tea Factory group manager, Robert Ejiku, the production of tea in the district has been steadily growing especially in Buhweju area where there is still unutilized land.
“The farmers in Buhweju deserved the factory because of the area’s capacity.
“We have been transporting green leaf from over 80-85km. To ensure quality, we realized there is need to open up an outlet in Buhweju to avoid damaging the green leaf.â€
He adds that by establishing this outlet, they will save a lot in terms of transportation cost and the farmer will benefit more. He says they have been spending sh60 in transport on each kilogram of green leaf they get from Buhweju.
Ejiku also explains that because Buhweju is on a high altitude, the tea grown there is of better quality.
The factory will have two lines of processing.
Mobilisation in high gear
Ejiku says they have a programme to support the farmers by giving them advances and inputs on credit to build their capacity. “We are trying to develop nuclear estates so that we can sustain the factory and so far we are looking at opening up over 100 acres of tea,†he adds.
Ephraim Biraro, the councillor for Burere where the factory is located, says they have embarked on a campaign to mobilise the farmers to grow more tea.
He, however, argues that although the farmers would want to grow more tea, some cannot afford the plantlets which cost sh300 each.
“We have over 30 nursery beds with over 5 million plantlets but there is no money to buy these plantlets and supply them to the farmers. In fact they have overgrown,†Biraro explains.
The Government is contributing over sh4bn while the shareholders are contributing about sh6b towards the factory construction.
FOR the past five years since Harriet Kyogabirwe acquired a cell phone, she has been sending it to Bushenyi, about 50km away, to be charged. Her home area, Nyakashaka, in Buhweju County has never had electricity.
“We would spend almost a week waiting for our phones to come from charging,†Kyogabirwe says.
In the 1960s, Milton Obote, the then president of Uganda, pledged to extend hydro electricity and construct a tea factory in Buhweju but the promise was never fulfilled.
When Idi Amin came to power in the 1970s he made a similar pledge which never came to pass. On his second coming, in the 1980s, Obote again made the pledge which he never honour.
After capturing power in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni, visited the area and promised to deliver the projects but the residents were pessimistic — they had seen it all, heard all, and learnt to regard it as mere politicking.
Now, over 45 since the first the pledge was made, the residents are witnessing the initial signs; soon, the inhabitants of these remote but rich agricultural hills will see the light at a mere click on the switch.
With a new tea factory under construction, the residents of this tea-growing area will no longer have to wait for days to transport their green leaf to Kyamuhunga, about 80km away, for processing.
The two projects, hopefully, will trigger development and eradicate poverty in the area that has always been described as hard-to-reach.
Communication too will be easy and business will boom as they will charge their car batteries, do metal welding, open up restaurants, bars and salons and be able to watch World Cup.
Erieza Kafureeka, an elder, says throughout his life, he had never thought such a thing would come to Buhweju. “We have been neglected for long by successive governments. At least now we are beginning to see some light. We can enjoy some cold drinks which used to be a far off dream.
“And with the construction of the tea factory, we expect a big boost in development.â€
In 1984, the Government acquired land from Burere sub county and leveled it. The sub county headquarters were then moved to Nyakashaka to allow construction of the tea factory.
Twenty-seven years down the road, the land the Government bought from the former Uganda Tea Growers Corporation (UTGC) (the company was later sold to Igara Growers Tea Factory) has been lying idle.
In September 2009, Trust Builders Ltd won a sh10b tender from Igara Growers Tea Factory Ltd to construct a factory that will process over 60,000kg of green leaf per day.
The structures to be put up include a main factory, a boiler house, a firewood house, a generator house, a garage house, an administration block and an input store.
“We are now fabricating the pillars to start structures,†said Abubaker Zziwa, the site engineer. According to Zziwa they expect construction to be complete by November 2010. The acquisition and installation of the machinery will be done by Igara Growers Tea Factory.
Gold mine remembered
According to Igara Tea Factory group manager, Robert Ejiku, the production of tea in the district has been steadily growing especially in Buhweju area where there is still unutilized land.
“The farmers in Buhweju deserved the factory because of the area’s capacity.
“We have been transporting green leaf from over 80-85km. To ensure quality, we realized there is need to open up an outlet in Buhweju to avoid damaging the green leaf.â€
He adds that by establishing this outlet, they will save a lot in terms of transportation cost and the farmer will benefit more. He says they have been spending sh60 in transport on each kilogram of green leaf they get from Buhweju.
Ejiku also explains that because Buhweju is on a high altitude, the tea grown there is of better quality.
The factory will have two lines of processing.
Mobilisation in high gear
Ejiku says they have a programme to support the farmers by giving them advances and inputs on credit to build their capacity. “We are trying to develop nuclear estates so that we can sustain the factory and so far we are looking at opening up over 100 acres of tea,†he adds.
Ephraim Biraro, the councillor for Burere where the factory is located, says they have embarked on a campaign to mobilise the farmers to grow more tea.
He, however, argues that although the farmers would want to grow more tea, some cannot afford the plantlets which cost sh300 each.
“We have over 30 nursery beds with over 5 million plantlets but there is no money to buy these plantlets and supply them to the farmers. In fact they have overgrown,†Biraro explains.
The Government is contributing over sh4bn while the shareholders are contributing about sh6b towards the factory construction.