The Government through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD) has secured more than 10,000 acres of land for the construction of a new Tororo Cement Factory in Moroto District, Karamoja Sub-region.
The new factory identified as Klinker, will be a sister factory to Tororo Cement factory and will be making raw materials used in the manufacturing of Cement in Tororo Cement factory.
Judith Nabakooba, the minister of lands said legal documents for Naita-A-Tepeth clan have been worked on by her ministry to give the investor a way forward to get a lease on the land.
“Now we need to go on the ground and sensitize the owners of the land and show them the benefits that are going to come with this development in the area,” Ms Nabakooba said during a landmark meeting at Rock Classic Hotel in Tororo District on February 13.
The minister said people should embrace such developments in their areas as they are aimed at poverty alleviation.
She asked district leaders in Moroto to educate the local people and use the opportunity of the big chunks of land they have to reap big investments that this factory is going to bring.
Peter Lokeris, the State Minister for Mineral Development in the Ministry of Energy, said the new factory in the area is going to create an impact on the lives of the people and asked the public to always embrace such developments.
Tororo Cement factory is going to build a Klinker factory on Plot 122 freehold land in Tapach in Moroto and the construction estimated to cost Shs777.8 billion (USD200) is expected to commence next month.
The same factory will be leased 10,000 acres for 49 years, where the minerals for making cement are going to be mined.
Lands ministry spokesperson Denis Obbo, said they will be going on the ground on March 6 up to March 7 to sensitise clan members and the community on the benefits of this project.
“Next month, we shall go to the ground, process the necessary documentation and meet the people and show Tororo Cement the land that they will be using,” Mr Obbo said.
Upon issuing the lease on Naita-A-Tepeth clan land, the investor will be paying compensation of the land to the family members on an annual basis until they settle the yet to be announced money.
Obbo said the yet to be established factory is going to reduce the costs of production and importing these materials to a tune of Shs1 trillion (USD300) annually.
According to him, this money is going to remain in the country and develop it since raw materials will be mined within Uganda.
Background
According to Obbo, Tororo Cement factory got a mining lease for 21 years in 2003 but when it went on the ground, it disregarded the true land owners who are the Naita-A-Tepeth clan people.
“Naita-A-Tepeth are one of the indigenous tribes in Karamoja who fall under the marginalized groups,” Mr Obbo said.
When they got a lease, they went on to get minerals for the Tororo Cement factory but they were not paying royalties and surface rights.
In 2015, the ministry of lands after establishing that this clan was one of the marginalised groups, they mobilised them and together formed a legal entity Naita-A-Tepeth Communal Land Association.
This association ensured land rights of the indigenous clan members.
The ministry together with Moroto local government moved to demarcate 32,000 acres of land in Tapach that belongs to this indigenous group and process for them a customary certificate of ownership. It is on this 32,000 acres that Tororo Cement investors are going to get new factory land.
