William Komakech | Lamwo — Local farmers in Agoro Sub-county, Lamwo District, in the Acholi sub-region, have appealed for thorough investigations into the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment, Alfred Okot Okidi, and his entire team of engineers over the defective Agoro Irrigation Scheme.
According to farmers in the area, the Permanent Secretary, who is also a son of the soil, has not done enough to ensure the irrigation system benefits farmers despite the billions of shillings spent on the project.
Earlier this year, the then State Minister for Northern Uganda, Kenneth Omona, expressed shock after visiting the facility and directed the Ministry of Water and Environment to produce a detailed performance report on the delayed rehabilitation of the Agoro Irrigation Scheme in Lamwo District within three weeks.
His directive followed several appeals by farmers in Agoro, who said the multi-billion-shilling irrigation project had failed to effectively support agricultural production despite years of rehabilitation works.
The Agoro Irrigation Scheme, located in Tumanun A Village in Agoro Sub-county, Lamwo District, is among the largest irrigation schemes in Uganda. Constructed in the late 1960s, the scheme was designed to boost agricultural production during the dry season.
The irrigation project covers about 1,650 acres of arable land and has undergone rehabilitation since 2012 at a cumulative government cost of Shs30.7 billion. However, farmers say the prolonged rehabilitation has failed to improve water supply to their gardens.
During a recent site visit to the scheme, Omona expressed disappointment over the delayed works, saying the project had failed to deliver the intended benefits to the local population.
“The production has actually now gone down because the people have stopped their native way of production. We hope that this project will get finished and help them rise up to this point,” Omona said at the time.
The former minister also questioned whether there was value for money in the project, given the billions already spent and the slow pace of implementation. Omona noted inconsistencies between the original feasibility study and the actual implementation of the rehabilitation.
John Ojwe, a resident of the area, said they have failed to feel the impact of having one of their own serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment.
“With what we are seeing from this dam, we have failed to know the importance of our own son being the PS in that ministry,” he said.
When The Ankole Times tried to reach PS Okidi for a comment, his known mobile phone rang unanswered.
