Parliament’s Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry has prioritised the revival of Lira Spinning Mill as part of efforts to revitalise Uganda’s cotton sector, boost industrialisation and create jobs for young people.
The committee, chaired by Kole South MP Boniface Okot, made the commitment during an engagement with stakeholders at Fresh World Hotel in Lira City on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, following a parliamentary motion seeking the revitalisation of the cotton sector and textile industry.
Okot said the committee was particularly interested in finding lasting solutions to the challenges that have kept the facility largely dormant for more than four decades, despite its potential to support cotton farmers and strengthen Uganda’s textile industry.
Former Commerce minister Joel Aliro Omara said the mill was established to support cotton production in northern and eastern Uganda and provided employment opportunities to people from different parts of the country, including West Nile and Teso subregions.
Omara, who served in government during the 1980s, said Cabinet discussed the facility’s inadequate capitalisation following a 1984 workers’ strike over unpaid salaries before insecurity further disrupted its operations. He added that previous attempts to privatise the facility had failed to restore sustainable production and estimated that approximately $60 million could be required to revive the mill.
Lira Chamber of Commerce chairperson Morris Chris Ongom urged the government to recapitalise the facility, saying its revival would stimulate cotton production, promote industrialisation, and provide employment opportunities for unemployed youth. He said delays in implementing previous proposals to revive the cotton and textile industry had stalled progress, urging the government to commit resources towards restoring the mill’s operations.
Hillary Isingoma, representing Rwenzori Cotton Ginners Company Ltd, said the company acquired the facility in 2011 but lacked the financial capacity to meet the high costs of restarting spinning operations, despite having a combined ginning capacity of more than 60,000 bales that could potentially supply the mill. He also recalled that an attempt by Chinese investors Jinda International Textile Cooperative Ltd to revive the facility in 2005 failed to sustain production for even a year, underscoring the need for adequate financing and a sustainable management model.
Representing former workers, Santos Moro said the mill’s closure had plunged many former employees and their families into poverty, with widows and orphans struggling to meet basic needs, including education. He urged the government to revive the facility to address former workers’ unpaid salary arrears, create employment for young people, and restore a reliable market for cotton farmers.
Built with Soviet technical assistance, Lira Spinning Mill was commissioned in April 1973 under the administration of former president Apollo Milton Obote. It was once regarded as one of Africa’s major spinning facilities but subsequently suffered years of operational disruptions attributed to poor management, civil conflict, and economic challenges.
In August 2026, Parliament adopted a resolution urging the government to rehabilitate, recapitalise, and revitalise the facility, renewing hopes that the mill could once again contribute to Uganda’s textile industry.