A multi-million-shilling cultural and coffee enterprise spearheaded by Sylvia Owori, the Director of Operations at Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), has stalled after the government reclaimed a former rehabilitation center for ex-Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) returnees.
The government reclaimed the facility, citing the lack of a formal agreement authorising its use.
The project, Adungu Cultural Centre, is located at the former SOS Children’s Village premises in Pawel Central Cell, Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu City, and is currently under the control of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
The property, which remains the subject of a long-running ownership dispute between Gulu City and Gulu District Local Government, was handed over to the OPM in December 2023 to serve as a rehabilitation centre for former LRA returnees.
Since then, the facility has rehabilitated at least 146 former LRA abductees between 2023 and June 2025, most of whom defected from the rebel group in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Following the reintegration of the last batch of returnees into their communities in June 2025, the facility remained vacant.
Sylvia Owori then sought permission from the OPM to temporarily utilize the premises.
She acknowledges that discussions on an MoU with the OPM were still ongoing, but dismisses suggestions that the project will be affected by the return of former combatants.
By URN
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