The Deputy RDC Kanungu District , Hon Dr Gad Rugaju uncovered a large scale, cannabis growing operation in Kameme, Kihihi Sub county on Monday, raising questions about how a two hectare farm, complete with a greenhouse, operated for an unknown period without proper government oversight.
Rugaju led the visit to the site after receiving reports of the operation from URA enforcement team. Officials found workers tending cannabis plants across roughly two hectares of land, alongside greenhouse infrastructure suggesting a well established commercial enterprise rather than a small or recent planting.
When he asked site managers to produce operating licenses for cannabis cultivation, they were unable to do so. Instead, they presented a business registration certificate from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, which he said does not substitute for the specific licenses required to legally grow cannabis in Uganda.
He said any legitimate operation would also need to show compliance with tax obligations to the Uganda Revenue Authority.
The identity of the company behind the farm remains unclear. A manager at the scene told officials the operation was run by Swiss Global Agriculture, a company he said grows cannabis for export. However, the certificate produced on site listed a different company, Healing Hem Limited, as the entity authorized to grow the crop.
A subsequent review of Swiss Global Agriculture’s website by officials found discrepancies between the company’s online description of its operations and what was observed on the ground.
Deputy RDC ordered the arrest of the managers and other personnel present at the site, though security guards were not detained. Those arrested were taken to Kihihi police station to give statements, and officials say the investigation is ongoing.
The incident has intensified scrutiny of how a commercial cannabis operation of this scale could take root in Kanungu without triggering alerts to key district offices, and whether other unlicensed growers may be operating undetected elsewhere in the region.
Authorities say updates will follow as the investigation develops.