How Ntoroko migrants turned brotherhood into wealth building

A few miles from the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies Rwebisengo Town Council, a quiet but growing trading centre whose population reflects Uganda’s diversity. 

Among the residents are migrants from western Uganda, mainly the Bakiga and Banyankole, who arrived years ago, some as businesspeople and others as civil servants posted to the area who later established homes and families.

These migrants eventually formed a savings association known as the Bakiga–Banyankole Tumanyane Group, a platform that has gradually transformed their sense of brotherhood into economic opportunity.

Balaam Tayebwa, one of the group members says the association was born out of necessity. 

Living in a community largely dominated by the Batuku people (an ethnic group around Lake Albert believed to be descendants of the Abarusula army linked to the Tooro Kingdom) the migrants initially felt isolated.

“When we started this group, we saw ourselves like the Israelites in Egypt,” Tayebwa recalls. “We were a minority, and we knew that if any one of us faced a problem, we needed to stand up and support one another.”

Over time, however, the group’s outlook changed. Instead of remaining an exclusive circle, members began embracing the wider community.

“We have realised that we are Ntoroko people now. Whatever we do should benefit this district, which is why we have opened our group to welcome even the locals. We are even proposing to change the name.”

The association, chaired by Peace Kanyesigye, currently has 41 members who meet weekly to save and invest together.

“When we started, we could only raise about Shs250,000 in a week. By 2020 our share capital had grown to Shs5 million, which we lent out to members to grow their businesses.”

Members run a range of enterprises, including retail and wholesale trade, while others have ventured into agriculture and livestock. Today the group saves about Shs1.2 million during its Sunday meetings.

The turning point came in August 2024 when the group received a Shs20 million loan from the Microfinance Support Centre under the Local Economic Growth Support Project. The funds were used to boost members’ businesses, and the loan was repaid without any default.

Impressed by the discipline of the members, MSC later extended a second loan of Shs40 million in March 2025.

Part of the earlier loan helped the group purchase six bulls for a fattening project run on a farm belonging to one of their members.

The bull fattening project is managed by Kazoora Mubi, whose farm has become an important income source for the association.

“My work involves buying young bulls just after they are weaned. I buy them at about Shs1.2 million and rear them for three months before selling them, mostly to buyers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at around Shs1.8 million.”

The farm currently hosts more than 50 bulls, including those owned by the association.

The profits have enabled members to pay school fees for their children, support their families and expand their businesses.

The group has also purchased a plot of land in Rwebisengo where it plans to construct offices for its growing operations.

According to Williams Okweda, Regional Manager for Western Uganda at the Microfinance Support Centre, initiatives like the Bakiga–Banyankole Tumanyane Group demonstrate the impact of community-based financing.

MSC is implementing the Local Economic Growth Support project in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank and the Ministry of Local Government.

The programme, which covers 17 districts, includes a $10 million rural microfinance component aimed at extending affordable financial services to communities that lack access to banks.

“Places like Rwebisengo and Kanara are hard-to-reach areas with no financial institutions,” Okweda says. “That is why we partnered with community savings groups to ensure no one is left behind.”

Through relatively modest funding, some starting at as little as Shs10 million, the programme has enabled groups to expand their sa