Questions have arisen following the Tororo district council’s resolution to allocate land to five government agencies in what many councillors and district leaders call a ‘flawed and opaque’ manner.
The resolution was passed on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, when the Council approved a budget of shs97 billion for the 2026/2027 financial year in a stormy session marred by procedural breaches, missing documents, and bitter clashes among councillors.
The same session also approved a string of land allocations to government entities including the Resident District Commissioner’s office, NIRA, the High Court, the Inspectorate of Government, and UNATU. Yet only NIRA’s request was listed on the official order paper.
Several members described the process as “opaque” and “flawed,” questioning its legitimacy and objecting to the Agenda.
However, some councillors who were in attendance say, there were a lot of calls that came from Kampala “bosses” during the break that lasted for over 30 minutes, something that attracts more questions.
Who are these Kampala bosses and what particular interest did they have in the budget passing? Or was it about land allocation?
The resolution came on the heels of a previous day’s media briefing where the LC5 chairman, John Okea, strongly dismissed reports that the district leadership planned to grab land belonging to the Tororo District Agriculture Training Institute, DATIC, calling the claims “false and baseless.”
Speaking during a press conference at the district headquarters on Tuesday morning, May 5, 2026, Okea moved to calm growing public anxiety ahead of the district’s final council session, scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
Councillors warned that the approved allocations lacked basic details such as the location and size of the land.
“This is a recipe for abuse,” said one member. “You cannot allocate land without knowing where it is or how big it is.”
Nagongera town council district councillor Obbo Oketch, popularly known as Jascience, led the backlash against the council leadership.
He accused council speaker Betty Andera and LC5 chairperson John Okea of having “vested interests” in the land allocations.
“How do you pass a shs 97 billion budget without documents, without a seconder, without a procurement plan?” Obbo asked.
Despite the objections, speaker Andera declared the budget passed and adjourned the sitting.
In his defence, district chairperson John Okea insisted the land allocations were meant to spur development. “These allocations will bring services closer to our people,” he said.
“The RDC, IGG, High Court — all these institutions need space to serve Tororo better.”
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