SHACU probes Kalaki officials over sh1b stalled technical institute
The institute is a presidential pledge to the people of Kalaki aimed at equipping young people with technical and vocational skills to enable them to create jobs for themselves.
State Minister for Economic Monitoring in the Office of the President, Sandra Santa Alum, with officials at Kalaki district headquarters. (Courtesy photo)
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The state minister for economic monitoring in the Office of the President, Sandra Santa Alum, has asked the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) to investigate the stalled construction of Ecwou Memorial Technical Institute in Kalaki district.
The institute is a presidential pledge to the people of Kalaki aimed at equipping young people with technical and vocational skills to enable them to create jobs for themselves.
However, the minister learnt on September 8, 2026, that construction of the institute had stalled despite the Government injecting nearly sh1b into the project.
Alum issued the directive while monitoring Government wealth-creation programmes, including Emyooga, the Parish Development Model (PDM) and the cattle-restocking programme in Kalaki district.
The directive followed a report by district leaders that construction of the institute had stalled after the Government injected sh950m into the project under the World Bank-financed Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme (UgIFT).
The report angered the minister, prompting her to direct the acting education officer and project manager, Stephen Ogwara, and the former district engineer, Francis Emalu, to record statements with the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU).
During the event, the minister also directed the arrest and interdiction of three civil servants, Joseph Olinga, a parish chief; James Ouma, a town agent; and Silas Eliu, a community development officer, who allegedly benefited from PDM, Emyooga and cattle-restocking funds.
The Minister of State for Teso Affairs, Clement Kenneth Ongalo Obote, raised concerns over the lack of a functional industrial park to help create jobs in Teso.
He said Soroti Industrial Park has three factories, a juice-processing factory, an aflatoxin cereal-packing factory, and a concrete-blocks and laboratory factory, which are only partially operational due to various challenges.
Ongalo also raised concerns over the non-functionality of Obulubulu Vocational and Technical Institute, which he said has remained closed for seven years because of high-voltage power challenges affecting the operation of machines and equipment installed by the Government.
Meanwhile, the LC5 chairperson of Kalaki district, Moses Oriada, revealed that efforts to recover PDM funds have not been successful.
Oriada attributed the poor recovery to mindset, saying some beneficiaries regard the funds as a political handshake for voting President Museveni and the NRM Government.
He said the district received a total of sh720m under the Emyooga programme since its inception, but only sh204m has been recovered, representing 28.5%.
Oriada added that only eight of the 17 Emyooga SACCOs in the district remain functional, while nine have collapsed after beneficiaries misused the sh30m seed capital provided by the Government.
Kalki resident district commissioner Chris William Okiria said police at Kalaki Central Police Station are investigating three cases involving Emyooga and PDM funds: CRB 196/2024, CRB 148/2026 and CRB 34/2025.
During the event, the Woman MP for Kalaki, Maria Goretti Ajilo, appealed to the Government to address unreliable electricity supply in the district, saying frequent power outages and low voltage are undermining socio-economic transformation and making it difficult for skilled young people to run businesses.
She said some parts of Kalaki are still without electricity, despite President Museveni’s promise during the 2025/2026 campaigns to extend power to all areas of the district that do not have access to electricity.