Sylvia Owori Assumes New OWC Creative Director Role in Gulu to Transform Regional Arts Sector

Uganda HeadlinesSept 14, 2026Read original

GULU CITY — After nearly six years of serving as a director at Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), Ms. Sylvia Damalie Owori has embarked on a new five-year tenure as the Director of Creatives and Member-Based Organisations under the same agency. Operating from Gulu City, Ms. Owori will oversee the development of the creative sector and local associations across northern Uganda, including the Acholi, Lango, West Nile, and Karamoja sub-regions.

The appointment represents a specialized shift for Ms. Owori, a prominent fashion designer and entrepreneur, who seeks to leverage her administrative experience to build a self-sustaining creative economy. She emphasized that the creative sector holds immense commercial relevance that can directly contribute to Uganda's national economic growth.

In her new role, Ms. Owori plans to focus heavily on structural formalisation, capacity building, and the protection of intellectual property rights. She noted that the creative industry extends far beyond music to encompass a wide array of "silent creatives," including fashion designers, visual artists, and filmmakers.

"All the scattered creative energy must become one sustainable enterprise," Ms. Owori stated, describing her new docket as a sharper, more specialized continuation of her previous economic development work. "For me, this shift is not a departure from economic development; it is the sharper, specialised continuation of it."

She added that local arts associations, artists, and savings groups are not merely administrative bodies but are valuable commercial entities, community anchors, and engines for economic self-sufficiency.

To turn these creative talents into viable businesses, Ms. Owori outlined plans to support member-based organisations in pooling production, aggregating supply and demand, and expanding market research. A key pillar of this strategy is improving access to low-interest financing through Savings and Credit Co-operative Organisations (Saccos) to strengthen the collective bargaining power of local groups.

Ms. Owori pointed to past initiatives as evidence of the region's economic potential. Under her leadership, the WALK Creative Arts Foundation for Northern Uganda successfully secured and directed one billion Ugandan shillings to the region's creative sector. Additionally, OWC has recently registered 1,200 creatives to participate in the upcoming Uganda One Festival, signaling strong local engagement.

Addressing a well-known saying by Gen (Rtd) Salim Saleh, the Chief Coordinator of OWC—"Rubanga tye Gulu, ento cente pe Gulu" (God is in Gulu, but money is not in Gulu)—Ms. Owori expressed confidence that her new role would change this regional perception. She declared her goal for the next five years is to translate that phrase into "Rubanga tye Gulu, Cente tye Gulu" (God is in Gulu, and money is in Gulu).

According to Ms. Owori, OWC has been organizing and planning for the creative sector in Gulu since 2021, and the focus has now shifted to structured, immediate action.

Reflecting on her previous six years with OWC and the Office of the President, Ms. Owori described it as the most demanding and rewarding chapter of her career. During that time, she coordinated major national economic drivers, including the Parish Development Model (PDM), cooperative development, and agro-industrialisation. Notably, her work in the agricultural value chain included the distribution of more than 30 million coffee seedlings across northern Uganda, helping transition vulnerable families into self-sustaining agricultural enterprises. She intends to bring the same structured economic discipline to northern Uganda's creative sector.