What started as a community blueprint is now translating into tangible benefits for the people of Buhweju. The 17th Edition of The BCTI Update, published on 21st September 2026 under the banner Explore Buhweju, traces this journey from policy advocacy to service delivery.
In January 2025, Buhweju Community Transformation Initiatives Limited – BCTI – unveiled the Mechanism for Revamping Buhweju Tea Industry, 2025, a comprehensive framework aimed at restoring soil health, increasing productivity, improving leaf quality and raising household incomes. The document was presented to H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at the Engaju rally in November 2025 and has since been the subject of sustained engagement by Hon. Nnamara Annet Oyes Byamukama, Woman Member of Parliament for Buhweju, in collaboration with UTDAL, UTOA and other stakeholders.
That advocacy has begun to bear fruit. Following the Presidential directive and Cabinet guidance of 3rd and 4th September 2026 communicated by PS Maj. Gen. David Kasura-Kyomukama, government has commenced nationwide distribution of free fertilizer for tea, coffee and cocoa. Buhweju has received an allocation of 17,200 bags of 50-kilogram fertilizer for tea, the highest in the country, ahead of neighbouring districts. Hon. Oyes has welcomed the development and thanked the President, Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, Maj. Gen. Kasura-Kyomukama and all officials involved, noting that it validates the power of evidence-based lobbying.
She has also used the platform to guide farmers on the next steps. According to her communication of 20th September 2026, the fertilizer is entirely free to targeted smallholder tea farmers, with bags clearly marked Government of Uganda – Not for Sale. No farmer should pay for it, and any demand for money should be reported immediately. Registration is being coordinated by the District Production Officer at parish level with verification by relevant district structures. Farmers are advised to ensure their names, National Identification Numbers, parish or village and tea acreage are correctly captured, and to contact their Parish Chief, LC1 or Sub-county Extension Officer for assistance. To maximize benefit, farmers are encouraged to prepare their gardens through weeding and pruning, attend demonstrations and training, apply the right input in the right quantity at the right time, protect the fertilizer for production and not for sale, and report any diversion or corruption.
For Hon. Oyes, however, fertilizer is only an entry point. The bigger goal, as articulated in the magazine, is healthier soils leading to higher yields, better quality tea, higher farmer incomes and better household welfare. She has therefore written to the President to follow up on full implementation of the BCTI strategy, cautioning that increased leaf production must be matched with processing capacity, working capital, markets and transport. She is engaging government on the proposed Tea Investment Consortium Uganda and a sustainable Tea Development Fund to ensure the revival is durable, and has anchored her appeal in BCTI’s three pillars of Education, Incomes and Networking, with the rallying call that the sky is the limit and every bag must reach its intended farmer.
The edition also highlights a parallel agenda of leadership, accountability and social protection that Hon. Oyes has branded Kisanja No Sleep, meaning action, accountability and measurable results. As part of strengthening infrastructure oversight, she has nominated Hon. Eng. Zadock Mutekanga to head the Roads Committee, leveraging his background as a civil engineer. She has reiterated that public resources in roads, education, health and recruitment must be protected and that all allegations of misuse must be documented and handled through due process without shielding anyone.
This commitment was tested on 20th August 2026 when a landslide triggered by two hours of heavy downpour swept through Ndurumo Cell, Rukiri Parish in Bihanga Sub County. An Emergency Report dated 24th August 2026 by CAO Kalyesubula Fred confirmed that 15 households were directly affected with an estimated loss of UGX 74.5 million, including semi-permanent houses, coffee and banana plantations, and livestock. Two children died, 8-year-old Arinda Joseph and 7-month-old Atubangire Locus whose body remains missing under debris, while three other children were injured and treated at Bihanga HCIII. Three families lost their homes completely and are now sheltered at Bihanga Church of Uganda without basic necessities, with high risk of further landslides and water-borne diseases.
Hon. Oyes was the first leader to respond physically, delivering maize flour, beans, blankets, basins, saucepans, soap, books, pads and maize seeds, and facilitating specialized eye treatment at Ruharo Eye Centre in Mbarara for one of the injured children. Beneficiaries, led by Ms. Tushemerirwe Dinavence, confirmed receipt and commended her continued lobbying. The district has formally appealed to the Office of the Prime Minister for food rations for one month, non-food items including tarpaulins, jerry cans, clothes and mosquito nets, medical and psychosocial support, compensation for lives and property lost, assessment for temporary relocation of high-risk families, and restoration of livelihoods through agricultural inputs and livestock restocking.
Beyond tea and emergency response, the magazine documents Hon. Oyes’s outreach to elderly residents and strategic community engagements across the district to identify local priorities for lobbying with ministries, departments and agencies. Together, the stories in the 17th Edition present a single narrative of transformation built on listening, representing, lobbying, monitoring and delivering, with a call to all Banyabuheju to protect the opportunities secured, restore their soils, revive their tea, and uphold service and integrity as the foundation of development.
