BY OUR REPORTER
Members of the Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council yesterday faced an angry reception from sugarcane farmers in Namayingo District, who demanded answers over the continued delay in licensing CN Sugar Company.
The confrontation took place at the stalled factory in Kifuyo Village, where farmers accused the council of frustrating the project despite government interventions to have the licensing process concluded.
They further accused council officials of repeatedly visiting CN Sugar under the guise of resolving the impasse, but allegedly using the meetings to solicit money from the investor.
Construction at the factory has stopped, leaving machinery idle and parts of the site overgrown.
Farmers said they had invested heavily in sugarcane, expecting CN Sugar to provide a ready market, only to be forced to sell to middlemen and other millers at what they described as throwaway prices.
They also questioned why the council had not acted on government directives to expedite the licensing process.
Before meeting the farmers, council officials held a four-hour closed-door meeting attended by representatives of CN Sugar, Bugiri Sugar and Kakira Sugar, police, district leaders, farmers’ representatives and a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives team led by Kiiza David, who represented the minister.
The meeting was chaired by Robert Atugonza, who represented the Sugar Council chairperson.
When the officials emerged, farmers, including Deo Disiko and Idah Kigada, detailed the losses they said they had suffered from poor cane prices and the cost of transporting their crop to distant mills.
The LC1 chairperson of Sango A Village in Kifuyo Parish, Buyinja Sub-county, became emotional as he accused leaders of abandoning the NRM principle of “prosperity for all”.
He said an operational factory would create jobs, improve household incomes and increase local revenue.
Several sub-county chairpersons from neighbouring Mayuge District, including Bumairo, said they had invested their own money in sugarcane but were now struggling to find profitable markets.
‘We may ban sugarcane growing’
Namayingo District Chairperson Ronald Sanya issued the strongest warning.
He said the district could pass a resolution banning sugarcane growing if the Sugar Council continued withholding CN Sugar’s licence.
He said companies seeking cane from Namayingo would then have to look elsewhere.
Sanya also warned other mills buying cane in Namayingo against frustrating CN Sugar.
Atugonza said the council was assessing what remained to be done before CN Sugar could commence operations.
He said a report would be prepared and submitted in accordance with the law.
He attributed part of the delay to objections from other sugar companies, particularly over land, and appealed to farmers not to abandon sugarcane growing.
Journalists ordered out
After the meeting, officials began inspecting CN Sugar’s land holdings, starting with about 3,000 acres in Nawampogo Village, Bukabu Parish, Bukaboli Sub-county in Mayuge District.
Journalists were ordered to leave shortly after the inspection began.
Officials said their presence was unnecessary and that they could hear confidential information that might compromise the report.
Licence saga
CN Sugar’s regulatory troubles date back to 2024, when Trade Minister Francis Mwebesa revoked the company’s approval to establish the factory after a verification exercise found that it had established only 121 hectares of sugarcane against the required 500-hectare nucleus estate.
Mwebesa later clarified that the directive stopped construction of the mill but allowed the company to continue developing its nucleus estate.
The dispute escalated into court after the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association challenged government approvals for CN Sugar and other new mills.
On January 20, 2025, High Court Judge Douglas Karekona Singiza ruled that the approvals issued by the Ministry of Trade were unlawful and ordered CN Sugar to cease operations, citing breaches of the regulatory framework and sugar zoning requirements.
The ruling left hundreds of contracted farmers stranded, with Daily Monitor reporting that more than 350 growers were facing losses.
The Government subsequently established the Uganda Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council to handle applications for new sugar mills.
CN Sugar later submitted a fresh application. In February 2026, the council said it would consider the application following a verification exercise, with the company required to meet statutory requirements, including establishing a 500-hectare nucleus estate.
But the process dragged on as farmers complained of cane losses.
The matter eventually reached Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja.
In an August 13, 2026 letter, Nabbanja referred to a directive from President Museveni asking her to follow up on CN Sugar’s licensing status.
She reminded the Trade Ministry of her March 10 directive to expedite the licensing process and facilitate validation of CN Sugar’s licence.
Nabbanja later announced plans to visit Namayingo on September 4 to commission the factory and directed officials to complete the necessary processes.
The licensing decision, however, remained with the Sugar Industry Stakeholders Council.
For the farmers, the prolonged regulatory fight has left them caught between a stalled factory and a sugarcane crop whose market remains uncertain.
