THE COOPERATIVE WEEK

The cooperative week annual event was initiated by The Uhuru Institute for Social Development in 2016 during which Cooperatives across the country celebrate their achievements to date, and give back to the community in which their membership is derived and with whom they generate wealth every day as is in the cooperative principle Number 7: Concern for Community. Since its inception, the Cooperative Week has mobilized the cooperative movement and increased its interest in government and development partners in cooperatives as a vehicle for inclusive socio-economic transformation.

The IK Musazi Memorial Lecture

I.K. Musaazi was born 1905 in Timuna village, near Wobulenzi town, off Kampala-Gulu road in Uganda. He attended King’s College Budo then gained a scholarship to study divinity in the UK. On completion of his studies in the UK, Musazi was told that he could only graduate and be ordained a priest in his own country Uganda, so he returned home. Musazi was married to Mary Ritah Nansikombi and they were blessed with 11 children. Upon return to Uganda I.K. Musazi took up teaching in King’s College Budo where he taught Kabaka Fredrick Mutesa King of Buganda Kingdom. Later he became a schools’ inspector with the colonial government. Finally, Musazi resigned this role to concentrate on helping African farmers, oppose the then unfair trade terms, especially for cotton. On Sunday 2 March 1952, Musaazi founded Uganda’s first political party, the Uganda National Congress (UNC). I K Musazi is buried at the Kololo Hero’s corner in Kampala, Uganda.

Concern for Community

We have adopted the international cooperative principle Number.7 to guide our corporate social responsibility agenda. We do this through innovative ideas that mobilise cooperatives and other people’s collectives to give back to the community, through the cooperative week activities. We give back 10 percent of our social business surpluses to the public good.