MPs ask finance minister to explain Atiak Sugar Factory non-operation

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KAMPALA - Parliament has asked finance minister Matia Kasaija to explain why Atiak Sugar Factory in Amuru district has not taken off despite the Government injecting into the company over shillings 553.7 billion.

This was after Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi told Parliament chaired by Speaker Anita Among that despite huge funds given to the company by the Government, there’s no sugar being produced by the company.

“This is a project that the Government has injected in a lot of taxpayers’ money. But when we visited the company as part of our oversight function, we found that to date, the factory has not produced any single bag of sugar. This is a project that excited many people because it sounded good for people in northern Uganda and the country generally. It started so well but along the way, there are many unanswered questions. The factory is not operational and they are not sure when they will open and start to manufacture sugar,” Ssenyonyi said.

Ssenyonyi wondered why the Government has continued allocating funds to the company that is not taking off.

“Does the Government actually have shares in the factory? If so, how many? How are we ensuring that the investment of taxpayers is making returns, almost every year there is a request for money to this entity,” Ssenyonyi said.

He added that unlike other areas where they have been barred from entering the factory premises, the management of Atiak factory allowed them to tour the premises and hold meetings with them.

“The company is frustrated because the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), which is supposed to act on our behalf is absent. They are saying we do not see them, they do not have raw materials, they are looking towards having all the machinery for them to operate,” he said.

Speaker Among asked the Leader of the Opposition to table a report on his visit to Atiak, Roko Construction Ltd and Dei Biopharma Ltd for the relevant ministers to make a response.

Warning on Atiak

President Yoweri Museveni has cautioned people against frustrating Atiak sugar factory project in Amuru district.

Museveni who was in April 2024 on a field visit to assess the current state of the multi-billion shillings sugar project implemented under a public-private partnership, noted that those frustrating the project are opposing industrialisation and thus they are enemies of Uganda and Africa.

In 2018, the Government, through UDC, invested $5.5m in exchange for a 10.1 per cent stake in the Atiak Sugar factory which was established by Horyal Holding Investment Co Ltd.

The Government's stake has since grown to 49 per cent with a direct and indirect investment of shillings 553.7 billion through UDC and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS).

The factory was envisaged to facilitate economic recovery in northern Uganda through the creation of jobs for local workers and the empowerment of women as the main suppliers of sugarcane in the region.

The report highlighted a number of challenges faced by the factory and the community, ranging from lack of raw materials, the factory’s inability to plant the required sugarcane on 60,000 acres provided by the community and laxity on the side of UDC, finance ministry and trade ministry.