Members of Parliament have called for a comprehensive assessment of government interventions and money spent in Karamoja to establish their impact and identify why previous programmes have failed to deliver lasting change.
The MPs made the call during a meeting of the Presidential Affairs Committee, chaired by Hon. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, with the Ministry of Karamoja Affairs led by Hon. John Baptist Lokii, Minister, Office of the Prime Minister (Karamoja Affairs), and Hon. Esther Anyakun, Minister of State, Office of the Prime Minister (Karamoja Affairs).
The meeting held on Thursday, 24 September 2026 was considering the proposed Karamoja Regional Development Plan (KRDP), a Shs15 trillion, 10-year plan intended to transform the region from a nomadic and agro-pastoralist society into a settled and commercially productive one.
Lokii outlined some of the interventions under the proposed plan, including a man-made lake, bulk water transfers from Lake Bisina, a seed project, livestock-related industries, industrial parks, schools, electrification and a railway.
Hon. Lucy Akello (FDC, Amuru District Woman Representative) questioned whether government had ever evaluated programmes and money directed to Karamoja.
“Have we ever done any evaluation of the programmes and the money that have gone to Karamoja?” Akello asked.
She also raised concern about duplication, with different ministries and entities implementing interventions in the same areas.
Hon. Harriet Nakweede (NUP, Kayunga District Woman Representative) also called for an evaluation of previous projects and interventions.
“Can we as people now feel so much attached to the region, get to look through all the projects, all the interventions that were attached to Karamoja, make some evaluations, know why they failed?” Nakweede asked.
She said the assessment should establish why previous interventions had failed so that the new plan does not repeat the same mistakes. She also proposed that the committee visit Karamoja to verify projects and the situation on the ground.
Hon. Mapenduzi also questioned the effectiveness and coordination of existing interventions, citing reports of government-funded dams that had not been completed.
He asked the ministry whether it was aware of such projects and whether it had documented them to establish who received government funds for projects that were not implemented.
He further questioned conflicting accounts over the Shs45 billion emergency food intervention, saying the Ministry for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees had reported spending Shs40 billion on food and having Shs5 billion remaining, while the Karamoja Affairs ministry reported that only 300,000 households had received food.
Mapenduzi said the new plan must ensure better coordination of interventions.
“The whole thing takes us to one: making sure that the plan is implemented. And also two: making sure that you get the money you need, and you start to coordinate all the interventions effectively,” he said.
Hon. Isaac Malinga Maikut (NRM, Soi County), supported concerns over duplication, saying there was a need to align the various projects being implemented in the area.
Responding, Minister Anyakun said the KRDP had been designed as a whole-of government approach to avoid duplication, with ministries, departments and agencies working together.
“So that means Karamoja Affairs will not be doing dams, we shall not be doing the electricity, we shall not be doing roads as KRDP. It will be a whole government approach,” Anyakun said.
Meanwhile, Mapenduzi said the KRDP proposal had lapsed with the dissolution of the 11th Parliament. Citing Rule 245, he said pending business could only be reinstated within 14 sittings of the new Parliament, a period that had already expired.
He proposed that the ministry reintroduce the plan as fresh business in Parliament.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
