Fishing boats at Kaiso Tonya landing site in Buseruka. Commercially viable oil deposits were discovered in Lake Albert, 40km west of Hoima town in 2006. PHOTO | MORGAN MBABAZI | THE EASATFRICAN
When Uganda created 10 new cities in July 2020, Hoima rose from a municipality to assume the moniker Oil City. This had been long in coming. About two decades ago, Hoima was a small, humble and almost lifeless town with a population of less than 30,000 residents.
“Back then Hoima’s economy was the weakest in midwestern Uganda,” says Lennox Mugume, 43, a local businessman. “Neighbouring Buliisa and Kibale towns had somewhat booming economies. Buliisa was famous for fishing while Kibale was arguably Uganda’s biggest producer of illicit liquor. In Hoima, almost nothing appeared to be going on then, both socially and economically.”
