Atiak Sugar Factory: Family members to face off in court over land deal
AMURU-The High Court in Gulu will hear the case in which family members are conflicting over the land Atiak Sugar Factory acquired from the family, with some members saying they were left out of the contract signed with Horyal Investment Company Limited, which runs the factory.
The land measuring 8,886 hectares in Pacilo parish in Amuru district is part of 27,000 acres acquired by Horyal Investment Company Limited, for the sugar factory.
The conflict is between the families of late John Omaya where some members claim the processes in the said land transaction lacked transparency when it comes to dividends from the project implementation.
Peter Okee, one of the family members told this reporter that over 50 occupants, including the children of his late father and offsprings, were excluded from shares in the sugar project.
He blamed his elder stepbrother Okot Akena Ogik for sidelining them from the legal document of the transfer of the customary land into a leasehold.
Through M/s Asiimwe Advocates and Solicitor, he jointly sued three of his brothers and a sister together with Horyal Investment Company Limited, Airtel Uganda, and Commissioner Land Registration.
The lawsuit was filed on August 15, 2022, in Gulu High Court with one other plaintiff, Bosco Opio Ogik as the applicants seek legal redress.
The plaintiffs contend that the land acquisition was fraudulently executed at the time of conversion from customary land into a freehold which was then leased to the sugar factory.
The Horyal Investment Company Limited too was dragged to court for subletting part of the contested land to Airtel Uganda which has erected its mast there.
The complainants want court to order the cancellation of the certificate of title from freehold back to customary land ownership with an injunction on any of the activities in the disputed land.
They also asked court to compel the accused to declare the dividends he has received from the Company since 2013 to date which he has not accounted for.
Besides, they asked court to grant them power to institute a body of trustees to manage the estate of their late father and give them legal equal rights on the property and his assets.
The matter was first brought before the Deputy Registrar Gulu High Court Nasulu Hussein on August 8, 2022.
However, the accused [Okot Akena Ogik] who represented the others requested that the issue be settled out of court through mediation, which was consented to by the plaintiffs.
The Registrar has however appointed lawyer Silver Oyet Okeny to help mediate the conflict and report back to court in writing by October 11, 2022.
Atiak Sugar Factory is a subsidiary of Horyal Investment Holdings Company Limited. It was established in 2016 and is owned by businesswoman, Amina Hersi.
The factory covers up to 27,000 acres of land in Atiak Sub-county, Amuru district which was leased by the family of John Omaya.
The government through Uganda Development Corporation [UDC] owns a 40 percent stake in the project even after investing more than Shs 101 billion while the company has suspended its operations.
Though the factory currently faces some challenges, it was planned to crush 1,650 tonnes [1,650,000 kg] of raw cane daily, producing 66,000 tonnes [66,000,000 kg] of powder sugar annually.
The factory planned to employ over 1,500 people and had approached over 5,000 out-growers for the supply of the sugarcane to manufacture sugar.
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