Martin Mugabe, Rukungiri Resident District Commissioner has suspended the distribution of perennial crop inputs by Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), a government program started to enhance household participation in commercial agricultural production.
Operation wealth creation, an initiative, which runs under the National Agricultural Advisory Services-NAADS, is used for community mobilization, distribution of agricultural inputs, and facilitation of agricultural production chains across the country.
Mugabe accuses Operation Wealth Creation coordinators for delaying the distribution of seedlings to the farmers well knowing that the months ahead receive little or no rain that cannot support coffee and tea seedlings to survive.
Mugabe says that in addition to little rain in the coming month, OWC officials were distributing premature coffee and tea seedling to the farmers. He adds that he was forced to suspend the distribution after realizing that locals have no capacity to carry out routine irrigation during the dry season.
Mugabe says that OWC officials have to wait until September when there is enough rain to support the seedlings.
Andrewson Kateebire, the Rukungiri District Chairperson supported the decision and equally faults Operation Wealth Creation officials for not aligning weather patterns to their distribution program.
However, Ismail Masudi the Kigezi region Operation Wealth Creation coordinator says that his office has not received any order from the office of the Rukungiri Resident District Commissioner stopping them from distributing seedlings.