By Ivan Wamuno Lokut
Sitting down and discussing with the beneficiaries of any government project meant for Karamoja would have saved a lot of money that ended up in the pockets of officials in the Ministry of Water and Environment.
The Ministry of Water and Environment has been insisting on constructing valley tanks in Karamoja, with every parish getting a valley tank.
Each valley tank costs Shs 500 million. This translates into billions of shillings that could be enough for pulling water from Lake Opeta to Karamoja hills and supplying water throughout the year.
Ever since they did this 17 years ago, the Karamoja region has remained struggling to get water for its animals during drought.
This has led leaders in the region to think it’s a deliberate move by government employees to use Karamoja as their “eating plate.”
The leaders have also observed that poorly performing officers, especially in the Ministry of Water, are sent to work in Karamoja, where they are promoted to higher offices and then return to Kampala.
Mr. Francis Kiyonga, the former Amudat District LCV Chairperson, said the government has wasted a lot of money constructing shallow valley tanks per parish at the cost of Shs 500 million each, which do not provide water for long for the pastoralists.
“It’s really a pity that government officials, especially in the Ministry of Water and Environment and Agriculture, claim to know more about Karamoja than us who are born in Karamoja. They should not take Karamoja as a region to be used for eating taxpayers’ money in the name of constructing valley tanks. Why can’t the government use that money and construct one multibillion-shilling dam for each district that will serve the entire district, rather than spending money constructing pit latrines in the name of valley tanks that dry within two months?” he asked.
Since 2012, the government, through the Ministry of Water and Environment, has constructed over 81 valley tanks across the nine districts of Karamoja with the aim of promoting irrigation in the region. However, these valley tanks dry up quickly during the dry season.
These valley tanks are constructed in every parish in the Karamoja region at the cost of Shs 500 million each and hold a capacity of 10,000 million liters, but they dry quickly when drought intensifies, as is happening now.
Mr. Ambrose Lotukei, the former Kotido District LCV Chairperson, said the money that the government, through the Ministry of Water, is spending on constructing valley tanks in various parishes can be converted to construct one large multipurpose dam per district that can keep water throughout the year or even pull water from Lake Opeta to Karamoja.
“Constructing one multipurpose dam costs the government about Shs 5 to 7 billion, so the money being spent on constructing five valley tanks per parish can be converted to construct a big multipurpose dam that will keep water for thousands of animals per district. But the problem is that these corrupt engineers from the Ministry of Water don’t want to listen to the ideas of the people of Karamoja,” he said.
Mr. Ambrose referred to big dams like Arecek Dam in Napak District, which cost the government about Shs 7 billion with 2.3 billion liters and has never dried since it was constructed, and Kobebe Dam in Moroto, which cost the government Shs 6 billion with 2.2 billion liters and has also not dried up since it was constructed six years ago.
Mr. Paul Lokol, the Nabilatuk District Chairperson, calls for a probe into the dried valley tanks, saying there was no value for money.
“I’m telling you, media, Karamoja is an eating ground for central government officials, and in fact, sometimes they don’t even listen to us, the leaders on the ground,” he said.
