Land row threatens sh20bn Acholibur cassava starch factory as OWC steps in
The dispute prompted Gulu Archdiocese Archbishop Emeritus John Baptist Odama to appeal to the chief coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Gen. Salim Saleh, and President Yoweri Museveni to intervene and help resolve the conflict so that the factory can be established.
Speaking to the community, Prof. Ogenga Otunnu warned elites against using their education, money, influence or authority to intimidate poorer members of society. (Photo by Christopher Nyeko)
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A long-running community land dispute in Acholibur town council, Pader district, has threatened to derail the construction of a cassava starch factory planned under the Gulu Archdiocese's poverty eradication and industrialisation project.
The dispute prompted Gulu Archdiocese Archbishop Emeritus John Baptist Odama to appeal to the chief coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Gen. Salim Saleh, and President Yoweri Museveni to intervene and help resolve the conflict so that the factory can be established.
The project, dubbed “Commercialisation and Industrialisation of Cassava in Northern Uganda”, was initiated by the archdiocese in 2017 through Acholibur Catholic Parish as an effort to improve household incomes and move communities into the money economy through commercial cassava farming.
Under the initiative, the Church mobilised farmers to grow cassava on a large scale while seeking markets and an industrial facility where the crop could be processed into starch.
In 2017, Bishop Odama appealed to the Government to support the project with tractors and a cassava starch factory.
The Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) subsequently agreed to support agricultural mechanisation and establish a factory at Acholibur, with President Museveni launching the project.
However, implementation has been delayed by a dispute over land earmarked for the factory.
The family of the late Joseph Odwong Lagoro offered 25 acres of land to facilitate construction of the factory, but neighbouring families challenged the family's claim to the wider parcel, accusing it of encroaching on community land.
The dispute involves the families of Joseph Odwong Lagoro, George Ongwen Pa Amet and Morsish Latigo. Several attempts at mediation had failed, and part of the dispute had also reached court.
The conflict escalated after a land survey conducted by the Pader district land department on July 2, 2026, which the two opposing families protested, alleging that the Lagoro family had attempted to extend its claimed land beyond its boundaries.
The two families maintain that the Lagoro family's land ends near the shea nut trees south of Acholibur Health Centre III, while the Lagoro family has claimed a much larger area of more than 180 acres.
Concerned that the dispute was holding back the cassava project, Bishop Odama appealed to Gen. Saleh for intervention.
On August 14, 2026, Gen. Saleh responded by sending his principal adviser, Prof. Ogenga Otunnu, to mediate the dispute and seek a solution that would allow the factory project to proceed.
The mediation brought together the three disputing families, local leaders, neighbours and security officials, led by Pader resident district commissioner Moses Assimwe, at the Acholibur town council headquarters.
Prof. Otunnu told the meeting that OWC had received complaints from residents who alleged that they were being forcibly evicted from their land.
He also cited concerns from Archbishop Odama that the dispute was delaying the installation of the cassava starch factory.
“If you agree that the family of Lagoro has 25 acres of land, which is the required land for the factory, and the portion has no issues, you should agree so that they give this land to the government for factory setting,” he told the meeting. He added that if the 25 acres included portions belonging to other families, those boundaries should be clearly identified to prevent land grabbing.
Otunnu warned that the Government would not establish a factory on contested land.
He said that if the community was unwilling to accept the project at the proposed site, the Government could consider relocating it to another area within the Acholi sub-region.
25 acres cleared for factory
The mediation resulted in an agreement that the Lagoro family would make available 25 acres that the parties agreed were not contested for the establishment of the factory.
The disputed survey was halted, while the parties agreed that the 25 acres earmarked for the factory were separate from the larger 180-acre claim.
The parties subsequently signed an agreement supporting the resolution, saying they did not want the land dispute to deprive the area of the economic opportunities expected from the factory.
William Oryem Lagoro, the estate manager of the Lagoro family, welcomed the mediation, saying previous attempts to resolve the dispute had failed to produce an agreement.
He said the family was satisfied with the decision to allow the factory to be established on the uncontested 25 acres, although other aspects of the wider land dispute would be handled separately.
Lagoro also handed Prof. Otunnu a copy of the family's land title for verification alongside documents presented by the other families.
Morsish Latigo, one of the complainants, praised Gen. Saleh's office for intervening in the dispute, saying the conflict had delayed development in the area.
Latigo said Prof. Otunnu had handled the mediation without taking sides, which enabled the parties to reach an agreement in principle.
He, however, cautioned that the agreement should not be misinterpreted.
The land ownership dispute remains complicated by competing claims over titles. Latigo said his father obtained a title to the land in 1981, while the Lagoro family maintains that its father obtained a title over the same land in the 1990s.
Prof. Otunnu directed all parties to submit their land titles for verification with the Uganda Land Commission.
He warned that a land title issued after an earlier valid title would be subject to cancellation.
During the mediation, Prof. Otunnu also warned wealthy and influential members of the community against using money, education, power or authority to intimidate poorer residents.
He urged the parties to live peacefully with their neighbours, warning that attempts by powerful individuals to forcibly evict vulnerable community members can create deeper conflict and undermine development.
Otunnu said the community's historical account of land ownership and allocation in Acholibur would be important in resolving the dispute.
He said once documentation confirming that the 25 acres offered for the factory were free from contestation was completed, Uganda Development Corporation would proceed with the acquisition of the land and establishment of the factory.
Rev. Fr Christopher Komakech, the episcopal vicar for Kitgum Vicariate, who represented the Gulu Archdiocese at the meeting, welcomed the intervention by Gen. Saleh's office.
He said the archdiocese had made several attempts to resolve the land dispute but had failed.
Sh20bn factory project
The Acholibur cassava initiative is designed to use contract farming to organise farmers into commercial cassava production.
Under the arrangement, farmers are expected to receive government support, including tractors and quality planting materials, while their cassava will be purchased at a premium to supply the starch factory planned for Acholibur.
The government has earmarked sh20bn for the Uganda Development Corporation to establish the cassava starch factory in Acholi.
The project is intended to cover northern Uganda, a region considered to have significant potential for cassava production.
OWC expands land mediation drive
Prof. Otunnu said the intervention at Acholibur is part of an OWC initiative to “de-conflict land” so that land disputes do not hold back production and development.
Under the approach, OWC uses mediation to help communities resolve land disputes and clear the way for development projects.
Otunnu said similar interventions had been carried out in Nakaseke, where resolving land conflicts had helped create conditions for increased industrial activity.
Gen. Saleh recently directed OWC personnel to help resolve community conflicts so that land disputes do not undermine the government's wealth creation efforts.
For Acholibur, the parties now hope that the agreement over the 25 acres will finally clear the way for construction of the long-awaited cassava starch factory.