Moses Mudong, Kaabong/Nabilatuk – As political pressure begins mounting for the 2026 general elections, leaders in Karamoja have asked President Museveni to hold the two ministries of Water and Environment, and Agriculture accountable for the billions of shillings allocated to them for Karamoja projects. According to leaders, the Karamoja region has not felt the impact of these ministries despite receiving billions of shillings for implementing projects.
Mr. Jino Meri, the Kaabong district chairperson, said President Museveni needs to task the two ministries to show accountability for the money allocated to Karamoja projects. “It’s a shame that these two ministries keep receiving billions of shillings for Karamoja, but nothing is being implemented in the region,” he said. He mentioned that the Uwaske dam, intended for water production under the Ministry of Water and Environment, has remained abandoned for four years, despite the ministry being forced to account for the works. He added that the rehabilitation of other dams in the district by the Ministry of Water has also failed, despite the ministry receiving billions of shillings.
Regarding the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Jino said several dams funded under the resilience project have failed. “We have an abandoned dam worth 11 billion shillings in Morungole, and till now, nothing has been done. The tractor hire scheme has also completely failed,” he said.
Mr. Paul Lokol, the Nabilatuk district chairperson, said the president should start by arresting engineers from the Ministry of Water and those from the Ministry of Agriculture for punishing the people of Karamoja. “We can’t continue blaming the NRM for not delivering, yet these engineers from the two ministries are the ones causing all these problems,” he said. According to Mr. Lokol, the Ministry of Water, which used to be vibrant in the early 2000s, has now become completely corrupt with no work being done on the ground.
He said Nabilatuk has never received any dam, as per the president’s directive for every district to get a multipurpose dam. “Mr. President, please help us and deal with these engineers from the Ministry of Water and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture the way you dealt with corrupt former ministers from Karamoja who stole our iron sheets,” he said.
This publication has learned that many development partners are shunning funding to the two line ministries due to alleged poor accountability.
