The director of operations, Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) Sylvia Owori is at odds with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) over the occupancy of Adungu Cultural Centre.
Adungu, a former rehabilitation centre for ex-Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) returnees, is located at the former SOS Children’s Village premises in Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu city. It has been occupied by Owori for a multi-million-shilling cultural and coffee enterprise. However, the facility has since been reclaimed by OPM, citing the absence of a formal agreement authorising its use.
The property which remains at the centre of a longstanding 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, at least 146 former LRA abductees have undergone rehabilitation at the facility between 2023 and June 2025. Most of the returnees defected from the rebel group while in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Following the reintegration of the last batch of returnees into their communities in June last year, the facility remained vacant. Owori subsequently sought permission from the OPM to temporarily utilise the premises.
In a letter dated August 11, 2025, addressed to the permanent secretary in the OPM, Owori requested that Adungu Cultural Centre be allowed to occupy the facility.
“To keep the place busy, Adungu Cultural Centre, a registered community-based organisation operating through eight core programme areas, requests to utilise this space temporarily,” the letter states in part.
Owori said the centre planned to undertake activities including creative product development, cultural heritage promotion, preservation of indigenous knowledge, film and digital media training, women and girls’ empowerment programmes, green culture and innovation initiatives, festivals and outreach activities, as well as sports, wellness and leadership programmes.
“The purpose of this letter is to officially request that Adungu Cultural Centre use the space. If the ex-LRA returnees come back, the cultural centre shall be ready to embrace them by providing skills training, cultural enrichment, rehabilitation through arts and sports, and support for their resettlement programmes in their villages of origin,” she wrote.
Following the request, the OPM undersecretary for finance and administration reportedly wrote to the acting undersecretary for pacification and development on October 15, 2025, seeking guidance on the proposal.
Although URN was unable to obtain a copy of the official response, several officials familiar with the matter said Owori had been advised to wait for formal approval and sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the OPM before commencing any activities at the site.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said government officials were surprised to discover that renovation works and developments had already commenced before an agreement had been signed.
“The permanent secretary made it clear that if she wanted to use the space, she had to enter into an MoU with the OPM outlining the nature of the project and the duration of occupancy because the facility is being reserved for former LRA returnees from the Central African Republic,” the source said.
The source added that the government was also preparing for the possible return of followers of the late Alice Lakwena, who are currently residing in Kenya.
“There are also groups associated with Alice Lakwena in Nairobi whose return is being negotiated, and they would equally require rehabilitation at the same facility,” the source said.
According to the source, despite being informed that the premises remained designated as a rehabilitation centre, Owori appeared reluctant to halt the ongoing developments. Another senior OPM official, who also requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said there was no formal agreement between the government and Adungu Cultural Centre.
“As far as I know, there is no MoU between Sylvia Owori and the OPM,” the official said.
URN has established that Adungu Cultural Centre was registered as a community-based organisation in Gulu city in July 2025. Owori confirmed that she had initiated the project at the site, saying her vision was to transform the facility into a centre for cultural preservation, skills development and economic empowerment.
She acknowledged that discussions on an MoU with the OPM were still ongoing, but dismissed suggestions that the project would be affected by the return of former combatants.
“We are still in discussions. I don’t think we will be impacted because those same people who are returnees are also going to need some of the activities we’ve been doing under the Adungu cultural centre,” she said.
Responding to concerns over the ownership dispute surrounding the property, Owori said her engagement had been exclusively with the OPM, which granted her access to the premises.
“The people who let us come in were OPM. We wrote to the Office of the Prime Minister, and we are still under them. We will wait for further communication from OPM before engaging Gulu city,” she said.
Since the repatriation of 51 former abductees and fighters of the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) between May and June this year, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has maintained security at the facility.
Maj Gen Felix Busizoori, commander of the UPDF Fourth Infantry Division, confirmed that the military’s role at the centre is limited to providing security for the returnees.
The returnees are expected to undergo a comprehensive rehabilitation programme lasting about 18 months, implemented by Terra Renaissance, a non-governmental organisation.