DELAYED TRANSFER OF TITLE HINDERS DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL MUSEUM IN ARUA CITY

Alfred Okuonzi, Arua District Chairman revealed that the delay by Ministry to develop the land is prompting the district to relapse the land.

By Dramadri Federick
Arua city

The failure to transfer land titles to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities has significantly hampered the establishment of a cultural museum in Arua city.

President Museveni broke ground for the construction of the museum in Giligili, since 2014, and subsequently, 3.65 hectares of land was allocated to the Ministry in 2020, but since then, little or no progress has been made on the site.

According to Alfred Okuonzi, the Arua District Chairperson, ever since the district handed over the land to the Ministry during the 2020/21 financial year, the Ministry has yet to officially engage with the district regarding the matter.
Okuonzi expressed frustration, noting that, the delay is unnecessary and has left the land unutilized for years, despite the longstanding need for a museum.

“We handed over the land to the Ministry a long time ago. It’s been more than four, almost five years since 2020. We are now on the verge of relapsing the land back to Arua District because nothing substantial has been done. It is not our mandate to push the Ministry to transfer the title. They need to initiate it, but they have failed to do so,” Okuonzi stated.

In 2016, the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities announced via its official social media channels that it had secured the land title in Arua and that designs and Bill of Quantities for the museum were prepared.

However, ten years later, the Ministry has only recently submitted a formal request dated September 29, 2025, to the Arua district local government, requesting the transfer of the land title from the district to the Ministry.
The documents indicate that the Ministry intends the district to transfer the title to Arua City since the land is located in Ayivu Division, within the city.

Subsequently, the land would be transferred to the Ministry of Land with the title registered in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities’ name for the development of the West Nile Region cultural museum.

 
Colonel (Retired) Tom Butime the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities speaking during the World Tourism Day on Weekend.

During the 2025 World Tourism Day celebrations in Arua City, Tom Butime, the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, stated that they are monitoring the title transfer process to facilitate the full establishment of the museum.

“We are waiting for the land title. The delay has been because the title is still with Arua District, and that is what’s holding up the construction of the museum,” Butime explained.

This land was once the headquarters of the Lugbara tribe. The money for the development is part of the Ministry’s 20.888 billion Ugandan shillings allocated for the development of museums and heritage sites aimed at promoting cultural tourism.

Currently, Uganda has only two fairly developed museums and one cultural site.

However, most tourists cannot access many of these due to restrictions, and the existing facilities do not meet international standards, leading to visitor dissatisfaction.

Despite over 640 registered archaeological, paleontological, historical, and traditional sites, only 10 are gazetted, with just one fully developed and another under development.
The remaining sites have suffered from neglect, lack of conservation, preservation, interpretation, and promotion efforts.