Government to pay disgruntled Kigezi tea farmers - Bahati

The government of Uganda is working around the clock to clear the payment of disgruntled tea nursery bed operators in the Kigezi region.

According to the State Minister for Finance in charge of planning, David Bahati, a recent cabinet meeting approved sh30bn fund towards the clearing of some tea farmers in the region. 

In July, over 700 tea nursery bed operators from the region petitioned President Yoweri Museveni to prevail over the matter in which they were seeking payment for tea seedlings worthy sh143bn.

In the petition which was fronted by the Chairperson of South Western Uganda Tea Nursery Bed Operators, Frank Byaruhanga, the group indicated that they were contracted by the government to supply tea seedlings to farmers between 2014 and 2017 but no payment was made to that effect.

While addressing a press conference from his home in Mwendo village, Kitumba Sub-county, Kabale district on Wednesday evening, Bahati said the president felt the concern of farmers and tasked the relevant ministries to handle the issue with great consideration.

"We understand the challenges our tea farmers have gone through during this time and there is no doubt that government is yet to solve this problem," said Bahati.

Frustrated tea farmers in the region have for long cried to the government to rescue them from the financial struggles the project caused them.

The farmers said that they incurred lots of costs from loans they took. More than 28,000 casual workers they hired to work in the tea nursery beds were threatening to drag their former employers to court over non-payment of their wages.

According to Byaruhanga, the frustration that tea nursery bed operators encountered saw them file a court case against the government over non-payment in October 2018.

"Earnings from tea have increased from sh11bn in 2008 to sh55bn in 2019. This has led to the construction of four new tea processing factories at Kitumba in Kabale District, Nyakabande in Kisoro, Rugyeyo in Bwindi and Mpungu in Kanungu which are all earning government revenue," Byaruhanga said.

According to Phillip Zikampereza, the chairperson of Kabale District Nursery Bed Operators Association, the booming tea enterprise was used as a campaign tool for President Museveni in 2016 but when they engaged in it and supplied to farmers, the government did not respect their actions.

Museveni launched tea growing in Kigezi in 2008 as a way of increasing household income among the people of Kigezi, which at the time did not have a major cash crop. He promised that the government would buy all the tea seedlings and supply them to farmers.