Gulu, Uganda | On the edge of Iriaga-Laliya village in Gulu district, Northern Uganda, 13-year-old boys splash in the rain-filled ponds of what was once meant to become one of Uganda’s most ambitious regional aquaculture hubs.
Their laughter echoes across cracked concrete tanks and overgrown hatchery-remnants of a multi-billion African Development Bank funded project that never delivered a single fish.
To the families who live around it, this abandoned compound is not a technical failure, but a story about a promise broken over 16 years and a public investment lost to bureaucratic black holes and a community left to wonder who-if anyone-will ever be held responsible.
Christine Atim, a mother of four who worked as a casual laborer during the initial construction disclosed that they were promised the project would bring jobs and fish to the region but to date the only thing they have got is dust and disappointment.
The Gulu Regional Fish Fry Centre, one of the four facilities Uganda hoped would transform fish farming nationwide was designed to produce two million fingerlings per cycle, a game changer for a region still recovering from years of conflict.
“We worked digging ponds, expecting the community would benefit but nothing came out of it except cowpeas and posho, they gave us,” Christine Atim said.
For residents of Iriaga-Laliya, where the centre is located, the abandoned facility has become a symbol of broken promises.
Paul Oling, the LC I chairman told TND that many residents worked on the ponds during construction hoping that the project would create local employment and affordable fingerlings.
“All they did was put their signpost. During rainy seasons, children use the ponds as swimming grounds; there is nothing happening,” Oling revealed.
Development dream that vanished in slow motion
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) secured African Development funding in 2007 and contracted GQ Investment Ltd to construct 22 fish ponds, three reservoirs, a hatchery unit, an administrative block and staff accommodation in a timeline of 12 months.
However, in reality, two contractors walked away and the ministry cannot locate key procurement documents and no official can publicly explain how a multibillion shilling investment simply evaporated.
According to Emmanuel Omara Pacoto, the Gulu District Fisheries Officer, GQ Investments Ltd abandoned the site without completing the work and no official explanation was provided.
“Work started well………but was not completed up to 2015. The district made several attempts to follow up with the Ministry,” Omara disclosed.
However, instead of demanding accountability from the contractor, MAAIF awarded another contract in 2015 to P & D Traders and Contractors Ltd, working with Gotino Construction Specialists and they too abandoned the project shortly after taking over it.
Further, neither the Ministry nor the contractors provided clear explanations to the district according to the district fisheries department.
“When the first contractor abandoned the site, we kept asking Kampala for answers; years passed. No one communicated anything meaningful,” Omara told tndNews, Uganda.
According to him, instead of following up on accountability, the ministry appointed a second contractor in 2015, and the firm also abandoned the project and again no sanctions, no clarity, and no report was availed by the ministry to the district.
For a government widely criticized for mismanaging infrastructure projects, this case offers a chilling example of just how easily accountability can slip through the cracks.
In his response to account for the abandoned billion-shilling investment, Joseph Bwanika, MAAIF’s Assistant Commissioner for Aquacture, distanced himself from the project’s history.
“In 2007, I was in other services….this needs to be traced back in history because management has changed over time; some people have retired,” he said.
Bwanika further noted that he had not seen any record of tenders issued for the project and suggested that perhaps the district was responsible despite the contract documents showing MAAIF signed the agreements.
“That information, we need to go back and track….perhaps then we will get the details…..Offering no timeline for such an investigation,” he told this publication.
Therefore, for a multibillion-shilling project, MAAIF’s inability to locate procurement records, contractor performance reports or termination explanation raises serious concerns about accountability and stewardship of public funds.
District moves to salvage the project: but enters new controversy
After years of silence from MAAIF, the Gulu District Council in 2020 resolved to secure a developer who could operationalize the centre and the Ministry granted “no objection” and handed the facility back to the district in its incomplete state.
The district subsequently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Agromax Uganda Ltd granting them a 22-year lease to rehabilitate and run the facility but even this solution quickly hit a dead end.
According to the MoU, Agromax would proceed only after receiving a leasehold land title for the land on which the centre sits; although, the district eventually secured the land title in its own name, Agromax insists it cannot move forward until a leasehold title is transferred into its name.
“We are ready with relevant finance, resources and expertise to start repair work and move to full operation but we are yet to receive the leasehold title and the Ministry of Lands office in Gulu is still processing the leasehold registration,” Rony Oved, CEO of Agromax Uganda Ltd told tndNews, Uganda.
Gulu district LC5 Chairperson, Christopher Opiyo Ateker says the controversy surrounding the land title is only part of the problem.
“We technically rejected the MoU and referred the matter to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit,” Ateker said.
According to him, the circumstances under which Agromax was chosen and how the centre was handed over raised red flags and he alleges the previous district leadership attempted to favors certain organizations or companies.
This effectively stalls Agromax’s plans and places the fate of the centre back into uncertainty.
This Story was made possible with funding and grant from Northern Uganda Media Club in reporting on Public Accountability.
Discover more from tndNews, Uganda
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.