Hoima leaders demand cocoa value-addition facility
HOIMA, December 16, 2025 — Leaders in Hoima district have appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to establish a cocoa processing factory in the area to enable farmers earn more through value addition.
Vicente Savanna Muhumuza, the Hoima District National Resistance Movement [NRM] chairperson and flag bearer for the Hoima District LCV chairmanship, told Museveni that several sub-counties, including Kitoba and Kyabigamvire, are heavily engaged in cocoa growing but lack processing facilities.
Muhumuza said farmers currently sell raw cocoa beans at low prices and would benefit greatly from a factory that enables them to process finished products.
“If our farmers get a factory, they will be able to process chocolate, cocoa powder for drinks and baking, as well as cocoa butter. This will save them from selling raw seeds at very low prices,” he said.
The appeal was made during an NRM campaign rally held by Museveni at Booma Grounds in Hoima City, where the president addressed residents of Hoima City and Hoima district. Museveni, the NRM flag bearer, is contesting against seven other candidates in the presidential election scheduled for January 15, 2026.
Muhumuza also asked Museveni to intervene in the increasing cases of land grabbing, which he said were undermining the government’s wealth creation agenda.
He cited Kapapis, Buraru and Buseruka sub-counties as some of the areas affected, alleging that wealthy individuals had acquired land belonging to the poor, thereby limiting local production.
Eng. Jornard Asiimwe, the National NRM vice chairperson, requested Museveni to establish an industrial park in Hoima City. He said industrial parks play a key role in urban growth and would create employment opportunities for the area’s unemployed youth.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among called on the President to upgrade Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, noting that Hoima City Stadium, recently constructed, will host some matches during the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON], which will be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Among said the region currently lacks a health facility capable of providing adequate medical services for dignitaries and visitors expected during the tournament.
She commended Museveni for the construction of Kabaale International Airport, oil roads and Hoima City Stadium, saying such projects had championed development in the region. She urged the people of Bunyoro to vote for Museveni in appreciation of the government’s investments.
In his response, President Museveni pledged that the government would establish a petrochemical industrial park in Kabaale Sub-county, Hoima district, to produce plastics and fertilisers.
He urged the people of Bunyoro to embrace his wealth creation agenda, noting that the NRM government had ensured peace and implemented key developments in road infrastructure, education, health and electricity, and was now focusing on household income generation.
Museveni highlighted the government’s four-acre model, which promotes diversification, with one acre for coffee, another for fruit trees, a third for staple food crops, and the fourth for pasture for livestock.
“If households with small pieces of land adopt this model, they can create wealth for their families and leave sugarcane and commercial tree planting to those with larger land holdings,” he said.
Museveni is campaigning against Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform [NUP], Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change [FDC], Gregory Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation [ANT], and four others.
https://thecooperator.news/hoima-district-struggling-to-recover-shs-1-3bn-from-emyooga-saccos/
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