Bunyoro cooperative in bitter row with Rai family over sugar cane production

The Bunyoro Sugar Cane Farmers Cooperative Union Limited has accused the Rai family of maintaining a monopoly over weighbridges amid a sugar cane dispute.

The cane-dispute has forcefully led to the removal of commercial production in Masindi district.

In a press statement released on March 26, 2026, Mahmoud G. A. Kazimbiraine, chairperson of the Bunyoro Cooperative Union Limited, cited the dispute between the union and the Rai family.

He noted that in response, the union had innovated and established sugar cane marketing centers at Victoria Sugar in Luwero, approximately 90 miles from Masindi, to allow farmers to deliver their cane directly to the factory.

Kazimbiraine accused the Rai family of treating every sugar cane stem in Bunyoro as its own and resenting anyone else who handled it. He further stated that because of this behavior, there are currently four factories operating in Bunyoro: Kinyara Sugar Limited, Hoima Sugar, Kiryandongo Sugar, and Bwendero.

Chairperson Kazimbiraine also alleged that the family has exerted undue influence on some government officials, accusing them of removing and vandalizing weighbridges that the union had previously installed at Rukondwa and Kihande, near the Hoima–Butiaba junction.

Regarding claims of sugarcane theft, Kazimbiraine announced, “I want to announce that the information they raise on sugarcane theft is not true.”

Additionally, he stated that Kinyara Sugar, leveraging its significant financial resources, has managed to influence several government officials within the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to engage in unethical activities.

As a result, many people have been arrested, while others remain in jail.

Due to these circumstances, the cooperative is demanding a serious investigation into certain areas, calling for the restoration of the weighbridges to their original locations, and asserting that there is sufficient evidence to support these allegations.

Private sugarcane growing and marketing in Bunyoro began around 2017. This development came when Masindi district had an excess of cane that Kinyara Sugar could not process due to the factory’s limited milling capacity.

In response, the government subsidized the transportation of this cane from Masindi to Atiak.

tndNews, Uganda could not hear from the Rai family by press time.