Steven Ariong | Moroto — Karamoja leaders have expressed frustration over the delayed completion of the Karamoja Regional Remand Home in Moroto District, a project that was expected to ease the transportation of juvenile offenders to Mbale Remand Home, located over 178 kilometres away.
The Shs 4.7 billion facility, funded by the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, was launched in 2021 with high expectations from leaders and residents across the region.
Construction was initially undertaken by Gali Technical Services Limited, and progress at the early stages raised hopes that the facility would soon be completed. However, stakeholders say the pace of work later slowed significantly, raising concerns among local leaders about the cause of the delay.
According to accounts from the region, the contractor reportedly continued work using personal funds after delays in receiving an advance from the ministry, a situation that further slowed implementation. The outbreak of COVID-19 is also said to have worsened the situation, eventually bringing construction to a halt.
Since then, the project has stalled, with parts of the structure reportedly deteriorating. Leaders say the site has been left exposed, with a collapsed fence and increasing risks of vandalism and encroachment by wild animals.
The situation has sparked anger among Karamoja leaders, who are now calling for investigations into the ministry’s handling of the project, amid suspicions of possible mismanagement of funds.
Former Nabilatuk District Chairperson Paul Lokol said leaders have repeatedly sought explanations from the responsible ministry without receiving clear answers.
“As leaders of the region during our time, we kept on asking the Ministry of Labour to explain what could have happened because the contractor was nearly completing the work. Suddenly, the project stopped and no one has ever responded to us,” Lokol said.
Concerns have also been echoed by residents, who say delayed completion of government projects has become a recurring challenge in Karamoja.
Simon Lokut, a concerned resident, noted that many government projects in the region often stall without clear explanations.
“It has become a tendency in Karamoja where government comes and starts projects, but due to unclear reasons, they are not completed,” he said.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Gali Technical Services Limited were unsuccessful by press time.
The stalled project continues to raise questions about accountability, funding flows, and the timely delivery of critical justice infrastructure in the Karamoja sub-region.
