Bushenyi tea farmers petition Museveni over igara tea factory leadership crisis

BUSHENYI - Bushenyi district-based Igara Growers Tea Factory in Kyamuhunga is once again facing leadership challenges after a court order halted the confirmation of new directors, leading farmers to form an interim committee and petition President Yoweri Museveni to help resolve the conflict.

The latest standoff follows the expiry of the term of the outgoing Board of Directors and comes after years of internal wrangles and indebtedness that have crippled the factory’s operations and frustrated tea farmers.

On October 17, 2025, shareholders convened an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to confirm newly elected directors. However, proceedings were abruptly halted after the board received a High Court order issued by Justice Simon Peter Kinobe, restraining the company from confirming directors-elect before pending court cases are resolved.

"An interim order doth issue restraining the respondent (Igara Growers Tea Factory Limited), its officers, or any other person acting under its authority from conducting, proceeding with confirming, or in any way holding the election of directors-elect at its General Meeting presently scheduled for 17th October 2025 pending the hearing and final determination of Company Cause No. 36 of 2025,” reads part of the order signed by Justice Kinobe on October 16, 2025.

The injunction reportedly shocked the outgoing board, prompting the chairperson to stop the meeting and call in police to disperse the gathering.

Some shareholders faulted the chairperson for what they called a misinterpretation of the court order.

“The order was only stopping the confirmation of directors-elect, not the entire meeting. We don’t know why the chairman stopped the whole AGM,” said Mr. Willis Bashasha, one of the shareholders.

Outgoing board chairperson Mr. Sam Muhereza defended his decision, saying the board had no choice but to comply with the court directive.

“We had prepared everything tents, sound system, and MCs only to receive a court order the night before the meeting. If those behind it loved the factory, they should have served us earlier,” Muhereza said.

The Igara Growers Tea Factory, one of Uganda’s oldest farmer-owned tea processing companies, serves thousands of smallholder farmers from Bushenyi, Buhweju, and Sheema districts.

For over five years, the factory has had persistent governance disputes, leadership wrangles, and heavy indebtedness.

 Stakeholders say the instability has reduced farmer confidence, disrupted green leaf supply, and hurt the company’s reputation as one of the country’s leading tea brands.

Following the aborted AGM, a section of farmers regrouped at a nearby church, where they unanimously resolved to form an interim management committee to oversee factory affairs. 

The committee is chaired by Willis Bashasha, who also serves as the director for NRM manifesto implementation.

Bashasha said the decision was intended to fill the leadership vacuum left by the outgoing board.

“This is just a temporary arrangement to restore order and confidence among farmers. We want to encourage them to resume supplying green leaf to the factory and ensure quality until the leadership is legitimised,” he said.

Illegal committee

However, outgoing chairperson Muhereza dismissed the committee as illegal.

“Whatever they have done is bush politics. This company runs on laws and guidelines. You can’t just sit under a tree and declare yourself management. It’s a hoax,” he said, adding that the old board remains in office until a new one is legally approved.

Sower of confusion

The leadership crisis has since taken a national turn after a section of shareholders wrote to President Yoweri Museveni on October 18, 2025, accusing Bashasha of “sowing confusion” at the factory.

In a letter titled “Request to Call Willis Bashasha to Order,” the farmers appealed to the President to intervene and restrain the senior government official from interfering in factory management.

Copies of the petition were also sent to the ministers of internal affairs, local government, agriculture, and trade, as well as the LC5 chairpersons of Bushenyi and Buhweju districts.

“We, the undersigned farmers who are shareholders in Igara Growers Tea Factory, request you to intervene and restrain Willis Bashasha who has brought so much confusion into our company,” reads part of the letter.

The petitioners claimed that Bashasha, who lost in the recent zonal elections for directors, later “connived with Justice Simon Peter Kinobe and another election loser” to obtain the court order stopping the confirmation of directors.

“Thereafter, Bashasha led a group of people to another venue where he purported to elect himself as Chairman of the Board of Directors,” the letter adds.

They further argued that such actions were destabilising the company and undermining the rule of law.

“We hear that Bashasha works in your office. His actions of creating his own board outside company rules give a bad example, as we peace-loving Ugandans expect individuals to follow the law,” they wrote.