Kole fish get access to Kenya market

By Bonney Odongo and Patrick Okino

At least five tonnes of fresh fish from Leye dam in Kole district have been exported to Kenya.

The fish were purchased by Ayub Musoke, a fish dealer.  On Thursday they were loaded in a refrigerated truck and taken to Busia where buyers who come all the way from Nairobi in Kenya will be waiting to buy them, according to Musoke.

He said he first learnt about availability of fish in Kole from a New Vision article before one of his friends who worked with Source of the Nile (SON) Fish Company confirmed it.

“I doubted if I would get enough stock but on reaching here, I got surprised to find that there is fish in abundance. I hope to be coming here every week to buy fish,” Musoke said.

He added that Kole fish farming project is the second biggest after that of the SON Fish which is the leading fish farm in Uganda.


Workers at Leye Fish loading the fish on the truck

Musoke said Uganda’s fish has got serious demand in foreign market because they are always big in size and nice.

Eddy Morris Ogwang, the director of the dam while addressing journalists on Thursday at his fish site located in Ayer sub county, said each tonne of fish was purchased at sh6m making him earn sh30m in one purchase. 

He said the number of fish (tilapia) available in his cages is about 460,000 to 600,000 which he said would earn him more than a billion shillings when sold.

“The remaining stock will be opened to buyers both internally and internationally by August when the fish will be mature enough,” he said on Wednesday.

Ogwang, 30 who owns the largest fish project in northern Uganda, said the buyers wanted 10 tonnes in the first phase of the export but he decided to sell only five tons because the current fish stocks needs one more month to mature.

He said the five tones he has sold was only sample of the bigger sales which is yet to begin in August and September.

Kole,  which is becoming the leading fish producing district in northern Uganda does not have any major water body,  most of the fish comes from ponds.

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