President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has held talks with several leaders from the Teso sub-region.

The group led by Mr. Calvin Echodu, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) flagbearer for Soroti West Constituency was on Tuesday hosted at State House Entebbe 

The Tuesday engagement was a follow up meeting between the President and the leaders. The first meeting was held on 22nd December 2023 at State House-Entebbe. 

At the 2023 meeting, President Museveni tasked the leaders to compile a report on how much income each household in Teso earns on the average, details on land holding in the sub-region, what enterprises are suitable on the available land and how the government can help the communities.

A release from the Presidential Press Unit states that Museveni also asked the leaders to address three key issues namely: 

What is the problem with Soroti Fruit Factory in Soroti? 

How can these problems be solved? 

How much grazing land is available in the subregion.

During the meeting, on Tuesday President Museveni received a report from  Echodu detailing challenges faced by Teso. 

The PPU release indicates that in their report, the leaders listed a new number of solutions to the problems in the sub-region.  

State House reports that the President was pleased with the report which, " thoroughly analysed ", the questions raised last year. Museveni also promised to make a few adjustments in the report and further guidance.  

President Museveni was happy to note that the team realised that the people of Teso need to embrace dairy farming through cross-breeding their local cows with jersey cattle since the Friesian cows cannot stand the weather in the sub-region.  

He also guided that for household income to increase, the people of Teso need to diversify their farming activities and also start rearing poultry to favour those with small land holdings.  

The President further advised that fish farming is another lucrative enterprising project. He noted that digging fishponds may be expensive for farmers, therefore he said that the government can help dig the ponds for them. 

President Museveni, according to the release, was also happy with the report indicating that the fruits used in Teju Fruit Factory are the right ones, suppressing previous allegations that the fruits supplied to the factory were being imported.  

Mr. Echodu thanked President Museveni for giving them another engagement saying that the report was compiled from a reach conducted by committees  instituted in all the districts of Teso 

Mr.  Augustine Otuko, the Private Secretary to the President in charge of Political Affairs reported that the objective of the report was to establish the possible solutions to a number of queries .

Lt. Gen. Charles Angina, the Deputy Ambassador of Uganda to Cairo in Egypt, recommended that bigger dams should be constructed to help control flooding in Teso.

“We believe that if those valley dams are constructed and the old ones are desilted, fish farming will yield better results,” Lt. Gen. Angina said.  

Ambassador Nelson Ocheger, the High Commissioner Abuja, Nigeria, urged Government to encourage private investors to establish more fruit processing factories in Teso e sub-region.

Dignitaries at the meeting included, Minister of State for Energy, Hon. Sidronius Okaasai Opolot, Mr. Patrick Ongodia, among other leaders.