The High Court in Masindi has scheduled February 26, 2026, to hear a case filed by the Bunyoro Sugarcane Cooperative Union challenging the government’s closure of roadside weighbridges accused of fueling sugarcane theft in the district.
In Civil Suit No. 0002 of 2026, the union is seeking orders to quash a directive suspending its privately owned weighbridges and to block the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives from enforcing the decision. The closures affected the Rukondwa Weighbridge in Bikonzi Sub-county and the Kihande–Mile 2 Weighbridge in Masindi Municipality, both shut down on February 13 by ministry officials accompanied by police.
When the matter came before Resident Judge Mary Babirye on Wednesday, the hearing was adjourned after court was informed that the Attorney General, representing the Uganda Police Force and the relevant ministries, had not yet been served. Counsel for the union, Susan Zemei, requested additional time to effect service. The court set March 5 to hear the main suit.
The closures followed a February 7, 2025 directive by Trade Minister Francis Mwebesa ordering the immediate cessation of roadside weighbridges used to weigh sugarcane during transit. The directive required millers to buy cane directly from farms and weigh it at approved facilities to improve traceability and curb theft.
In a separate February 6, 2026 letter to the Inspector General of Police, Internal Affairs Minister Gen Kahinda Otafiire cited a police report linking roadside weighbridges to widespread cane theft and instructed commanders to halt their operations.
Farmers have long complained that brokers harvested cane at night and sold it at roadside weighbridges without verification. Authorities say the current system, where millers collect cane directly from fields, has reduced theft. The court’s ruling is expected to shape the future of weighbridge operations in Masindi.