The Speaker of Parliament, Annet Anita Among, has tasked the government to explain the rationale behind the distribution of tractors without plows to the farmers of Northern Uganda.

According to Among, “the tractors are now lying idle at the district headquarters like decorations.”

“Government, you gave out the tractors, and you never gave out the plows. Was that for decoration?“ she asked.

She expressed concern that these tractors are currently idle at district headquarters, serving merely as decorations rather than fulfilling their intended purpose of enhancing agricultural productivity.

This followed a complaint raised by Christopher Komaketch, the Aruu County MP, on November 27, 2024, during plenary, who decried the failure by the government to provide plows for the tractors allocated to farmers in Northern Uganda, saying, “This has left the tractors lying idle at the district headquarters, yet the peasant farmers are in need of this machinery for their farms.”

“Speaker, you made a pronouncement regarding tractors that were given to Northern Uganda by the President for the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Finance to make sure that the tractors that they gave to the peasant farmers do have plows with them. Up to this day, tractors are parked; they are rusting in the district,” he noted.

Mario Obiga, the Minister of State for Urban Development, committed to informing the Minister of Agriculture of the concern raised by MPs so as to provide the latest position on why the plows haven’t yet been provided for the tractors.

“It isn’t only in the Acholi region, but in many parts of the country, these tractors were given, and the minister promised that they were going to procure the plows, and this hasn’t been done. I undertake to inform the minister of the urgency of this matter so that he comes to Parliament and gives us the latest position,” Obiga stated.

Among’s remarks highlight a significant oversight in the government’s agricultural support initiatives, as farmers are unable to utilize these tractors effectively without the necessary ploughing equipment.

The tractors are a component of the mechanization program that President Museveni started in December 2022 to help Ugandan farmers. Noting that agriculture continues to be the foundation of Uganda’s economy, Nabbanja asked local authorities to assist farmers in adopting modern farming practices.

In December 2023, the government also donated tractors to the West Nile and Acholi sub-regions for commercial agriculture. The tractors included 326 hand-held, single-axle, 16-horsepower tractors and 28 75-horsepower tractors.