The Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Betty Amongi has said Acholi leaders yesterday met President Museveni at Entebbe State House where they agreed to have the contested 10,000 hectares of land in Amuru district surveyed to pave way for the sugar manufacturer, Madhvani Group to grow sugarcane.
Last week, local women in the area organised a nude protest against Minister Amongi who had gone to oversee the surveying exercise in preparation for the Madhvani group to begin its sugarcane production activities.
Addressing the journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala on Wednesday, Amongi said that during the meeting with Museveni, the local leaders agreed that the project would stimulate development in the area that was affected by the 20-year Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion led by Joseph Kony, now believed to be hiding in the dense forests of the Central African Republic.
“All the leaders agreed on the importance of the sugarcane project in stimulating economic development and pledged support to the onging exercise,”Amongi said.
The lands minister named Acholi chief Rwot David Onen, Bishop Baker Ochola and MPs Odonga Otto and Gilbert Oulanya among some of the local leaders who graced the meeting at Entebbe State House on yesterday.
Amongi also said that both sides will address a joint rally in Amuru district on Monday next week as the security deployment in that place remains.
“They agreed that the deployment should remain while a thorough investigation on the concerns raised is carried out by law enforcement agencies,” she said.
She applauded the leaders for their efforts in ensuring a consensus is reached and embracing the project.
