Peter Lokol, Moroto District – The official launch of a long-awaited airborne survey and mineral mapping report on Karamoja nearly turned violent after Ministry of Energy and Minerals officials allegedly failed to pay sitting allowances and transport refunds to invited participants.
Protesting leaders from Acholi and Karamoja demanded the immediate removal of Mr. Isaiah Timwikirize, the airborne survey project coordinator, describing him as arrogant, undisciplined, and incompetent.
In 2021, during the official launch of the survey, the same officials narrowly escaped a beating from angry participants in Moroto over similar payment issues. Mr. Timwikirize, seeing the leaders becoming agitated, excused himself, claiming a sudden onset of diarrhea. Karamoja leaders, however, insisted he be escorted to the latrine to prevent him from fleeing before resolving the issues.
On Thursday, the same officer allegedly left leaders, including ministry staff, stranded, nearly forcing them to spend the night in the corridors after he refused to pay their accommodation and allowances.
Several leaders told this publication that the project will not achieve its objectives as long as this disorganization persists.
Mr. Joseph Otita, the sub-county chairperson of Rupa, said they were left confused because the report presented the same familiar issues. “What we expected from the report were details on the quantity of gold Karamoja possesses and its specific location. This information was missing, making the entire exercise useless,” he said.
Mr. Mohammed Ismeal, the mayor of Moroto Municipality, echoed these sentiments, saying they saw nothing new in the report. “We know we have gold and many other minerals in Karamoja, but these people should have specified the amount of gold discovered and its location,” he said.
By Thursday evening, several officials expressed regret at having traveled from as far as Kitgum to attend what they termed a “confused meeting.”
Several attempts to reach Mr. Isaiah Timwikirize for comment were unsuccessful, as he declined to speak to the media, citing his busy schedule.
