President Museveni has said the government will revive the Atiak Sugar Factory in Gem Parish, Atiak Sub-county, Amuru District, to create more jobs despite the slow progress made over the last seven years. Addressing residents of Amuru District at Pabbo Primary School playgrounds in Pabbo Town on Monday afternoon, the ruling NRM party presidential candidate said the government would ensure that the factory is back on its feet.
Mr Museveni said the multi-billion-shilling sugar factory is part of a major plan by the government to revive the economy of the formerly war-affected region.
He was responding to Mr Wilfred Odiya Baguma, the Amuru District NRM chairperson, who had called for an audit of the factory to establish whether it was still a viable venture. However, Mr Museveni advised that if the factory had not met expectations, there was a need to look into the matter.
‘Atiak factory will be revived. If there are challenges, we will look into it,’ he said. He insisted that the government would ensure the factory meets its projected production capacity, adding that it was part of a broader NRM strategic plan to scale up industrialisation in northern Uganda. The President said the government had laid a strong foundation for the industrialisation of the Acholi Sub-region and the greater north, including electricity, motorable roads, peace, and security.
‘The NRM government intends to scale up industrialisation of the Acholi Sub-region and has rallied the people to protect the gains by re-electing the NRM government to foster the country forward,’ he added. The government, through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) and the Uganda Development Bank (UDB), has in the last five years injected Shs553 billion into the factory. The funds were spent on modern farm equipment, production machinery, sugarcane multiplication, irrigation systems, wages, and other operational costs.
Background
The multibillion-shilling sugar project is a joint venture between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and Horyal Investment Holding Company Limited. The government holds a 40 percent stake in the investment, while Horyal holds 60 percent. According to the Auditor General’s report for the 2022/2023 Financial Year, the funds were injected between 2017 and 2023. The money was released to the project through Naads and the UDB.
The funds were used, among other things, to procure trucks, prepare land, and carry out weeding. The report also faulted Horyal for failing to provide its capital contribution to the company, despite the government having fulfilled its obligations. The sugar factory was expected to create 1,508 jobs. Of these, 750 were to be hired as farm workers. Currently, 543 people are employed by the sugar factory. The factory shut down in 2021 after suffering a massive fire outbreak that destroyed a cane plantation worth over Shs3 billion. Production was expected to restart in July 2025.