Hon. Christine Amongin Aporu, Minister of State for Teso Affairs, provides Political leadership, and oversees the implementation of the Teso Development Programme. The Hon Minister will address Ugandans in the UK at the Ugandan UK Convention on 27th August 2011 at Troxy, 490 Commercial Road, London E1 0HX.
The Minister is expected to encourage Diasporans from the Iteso region to look at the region as an investment point in order to contribute to the development of the region.
The Ugandan UK Convention will host two Ministers and MPs from the Northern region which has been deprived and subjected to all kinds of inhuman atrocities by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels of Joseph Kony, for the past 20 years. Now that the region has returned to normalcy it is time for indigenous to give a hand and develop the region.
The region is endowed with many opportunities and a delegation of business and government officials will be presenting the many opportunities available for Ugandans in the Diaspora.
Among the dignitaries from the region is Sam Engola, the Honourable Member of Parliament for Erutu South County in the Lango sub-region and one of the legislators promoting the drive for the development of Northern Uganda. Doubling as the state minister of Housing in President Yoweri Museveni's cabinet, Hon Engola is key in ensuring that Northern Uganda achieves its goals and covers up on lost time.
However, before the actual event, which is highly billed and has attracted much public attention and anticipation, Hon Engola spoke about the exciting times and prospects that Northern Uganda has and where people should seek to invest.
With the restoration of peace and stability, security is now guaranteed. This is a precursor to good tidings. Hon Engola says that this is the time for an industrial revolution. “People should be thinking of constructing factories in the area because there is a lot of land that is available and is redundant. Besides, it is not so expensive,” says Hon Engola. He continues that there is also cheap labour but the kind that is intensive and effective.
In addition, Hon Engola says that Northern Uganda is a good farming ground for crops like sim-sim, sugar-cane, ground-nuts and cotton. With the decline in food supplies around the world, farming is a prospective jack-pot. Starting a sugar factory would be a brilliant idea as well.
It should be noted that with the establishment of South Sudan as an Independent state on 9 July 2011, the market for Ugandan produce is lying in wait. With limited industrialisation in South Sudan, the population there is highly dependent on imports, and what better way than Ugandans in diaspora being part of the strategic plan to industrialise in Northern Uganda and make some substantial profits, selling to the Southern Sudanese.
But that is not all, Henry Okello-Oryem, the Minister of state for Foreign Affairs hails from Gulu. The former first son said that Northern Uganda is at a point where Agro-Processing will be a lucrative investment. He adds, “There are also many minerals in this region that are due exploitation. For example, Karamoja has marble and Iron. There is also the Kidepo National Park, a centre of tourism.”
Kidepo has a wide range of animals that Ugandans must go and see. On top of that, Hon Okello-Oryem, the son of the late President Tito Okello Lutwa says that it's incumbent on all Ugandans to sell their country's good image to the outside world, say, foreign tourists. “There are few good lodges in the area especially near the national Park. People should invest in that sector to boost the tourism industry and their earnings too,” Hon Okello-Oryem concluded.
