HOIMA DISTRICT, 10th October 2026 – The Minister for Local Government, Hon. Balaam Barugahara, has visited Kaiso Landing Site in Hoima District where he was met with heartbreaking testimonies from residents about forced leadership, collapsing education, and police extortion.
During the engagement, residents complained that they never elected their favourite leader to lead them at the landing site. They said a leader was imposed on them without their consent. The Minister directed that the RDC should take time to organize a transparent election so that residents can elect their favourite leader freely.
In the same meeting, Hon. Balaam directed that the chairperson who was brought to lead the landing site should stop his work with immediate effect.
The visit also exposed a deep education crisis. It was established that children in Kaiso are not going to school because they are always hungry. Education in Kaiso is at stake. According to the Woman Member of Parliament, there are not enough teachers and the entire school had only three students. Residents called on the Government of Uganda to intervene.
At Kaiso, residents said the government only gave out 33 fishing boats to the community, which are not enough compared to the population at the site. They requested that, if possible, more boats should be provided to ease and improve the economy of the area, as fishing is the main economic activity.
On security, serious allegations were raised against the Police of Kaiso. One resident whose money was stolen from her phone said police asked her to first pay Shs. 210,000 for tracking services. She paid, but her money was never recovered, yet the amount she wanted to recover was only Shs. 410,000.
In another case, the OC was alleged to have invaded a lady’s house and taken Shs. 15,000,000. When she tried to inquire why they were invading her home, she was arrested and up to now, she has never recovered her money.
Following the testimonies, Hon. Balaam directed that the OC of that police station should be interdicted and arrested, and that the allegation made against the Fisheries Protection Unit officer should be investigated.
Hon. Balaam said government cannot sit and watch as poor fishing communities are exploited and denied basic services, promising to table all the issues before the Prime Minister and relevant ministries for immediate action.
