Transparency Under Threat: Masindi Farmers Cry Foul As Gov’t Moves To Crush Independent Sugarcane Weighbridges

By Swift Reporter 

Masindi — Anger is boiling over in Masindi District after government moved to dismantle all privately operated roadside sugarcane weighbridges — a decision outgrowers say will strip them of hard-won bargaining power and hand control of the sugar trade back to factories.

A February 12, 2026 letter from the Uganda Police Force directs the Albertine North Regional Police Commander to provide armed security as officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives oversee the removal of the weighbridges.

The enforcement follows orders from Internal Affairs Minister Kahinda Otafiire, who instructed the Inspector General of Police to halt roadside weighing in line with a 2025 Trade Ministry directive aimed at curbing sugarcane theft.

Under the directive, all sugarcane must be weighed strictly at factory premises. Roadside weighbridges are banned.

Farmers Say This Is About Control, Not Theft

While government presents the move as a crackdown on cane theft, farmers in Masindi and across the Bunyoro sub-region say the decision strikes at the heart of transparency in the sugar industry.

For years, farmers had no choice but to deliver cane to factories and accept whatever tonnage the factory declared. There was no independent verification, no counter-check, and no negotiating leverage.

“It was the factory that weighed, priced, and paid — all on its own terms,” one grower said.

The arrival of independent roadside weighbridges changed that equation.

Farmers could weigh their cane before delivery, document the tonnage, and approach millers with evidence. That single shift disrupted what many describe as a deeply unequal system.

According to growers, once factories knew farmers had independent weight records, under-declaration reduced dramatically.

“Those weighbridges protected us,” said another farmer. “Now they are being removed.”

A Return to Monopoly?

Outgrowers argue that banning roadside weighbridges effectively restores factories as the sole controllers of weight determination — and by extension, pricing.

Without independent verification, farmers fear they will once again be forced to accept whatever figures factory weighbridges produce.

The Trade Ministry has pledged improved documentation and transparency at factory premises. But farmers say transparency without independent oversight is meaningless.

“If the factory is the only one weighing, who checks the factory?” a cooperative leader asked.

Industry observers warn that the removal could tilt the balance of power decisively in favour of millers, weakening competition and squeezing farm-gate prices.

Independent weighbridges had created a market where factories had to compete for cane supply. Farmers, armed with verified tonnage, could compare offers and negotiate.

Now, growers fear, that competitive pressure may disappear.

Police Deployment Deepens Distrust

The involvement of police — with instructions to provide security during dismantling — has intensified tensions. Farmers say they feel criminalized for using infrastructure that enhanced fairness in trade.

The police letter anticipates resistance, underscoring the volatile atmosphere surrounding the exercise.

For many in Masindi, this is no longer just about sugarcane theft. It is about who controls information, who determines value, and who holds power in Uganda’s sugar value chain.

“Why Remove What Protected Us?”

As officials prepare to enforce the directive under police guard, farmers are asking what they consider a fundamental question:

Why dismantle the very system that helped prevent cheating?

To the growers of Bunyoro, the roadside weighbridge was not a theft point.

It was a transparency point.

And its forced removal, they say, feels less like reform and more like a step backward.