Urum, 17th July 2025 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
Residents of Urum village in Lokiriama have petitioned the County Government to expand aquaculture activities to the Nakouetom Peace Dam, which they consider an ideal site for fish farming and an alternative livelihood to pastoralism.
The request was formally submitted through a letter from Area Chief Stephen Erot to the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, seeking support to initiate aquaculture practices in the dam.
Responding promptly to the community’s appeal, Chief Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Evans Lomodei, led a team to assess the viability of introducing aquaculture at Nakouetom Peace Dam.
Speaking during the field visit, Lomodei declared the Department’s commitment to supporting the community’s food security and income-generation efforts. “We will begin by stocking 10,000 Nile Tilapia and 5,000 catfish fingerlings. With proper management, the dam can develop into a fully-fledged fishery within months,” he said.
Lomodei added that a technical team will be dispatched to conduct fish testing and assess the dam’s water parameters to ensure suitability for aquaculture.
The initiative aligns with Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai’s agenda of partnership-driven development. The CCO thanked the World Food Programme (WFP), through the Dutch Embassy Project, for supporting aquaculture expansion across five sub-counties. He pledged to scale the initiative countywide.
Nakouetom Peace Dam, constructed in 2018 under a Presidential directive for cross-border peace, was inspired by Uganda’s successful Kobebe Dam project. The dam has a storage capacity of 750,000 cubic metres and was designed to support 27,000 people and 242,000 livestock.
The residents further urged the County Government to prioritise construction of a direct road from Urum to Moroto, a neighbouring town in Uganda, to ease cross-border movement, instead of using the longer Lokiriama-Moroto route.
Lomodei announced that the Department will soon deploy a Sub-county Fisheries Officer to Lokiriama to oversee aquaculture development and supervise related operations.
The Chief Officer was accompanied by Assistant Director for Administrative Services Mark Loupe, Senior Fisheries Officer Bett John, Fisheries Officer Dominic Kiptoo, Urum Village Administrator Mathew Ebei, and a team of interns.
