Karamoja tipped for industrial boom as Museveni touts peace gains

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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pledged to transform Karamoja into an industrial powerhouse, citing ongoing peace, new infrastructure, and emerging private investments as the region’s foundation for growth.

Speaking during his campaign rally at Lomukura Primary School in Kotido Municipality on Monday, October 27, the President, accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs Janet Museveni, thanked residents for supporting government efforts to restore stability through disarmament.

“Our first point in the NRM Manifesto is peace. When we stopped guns, there was a woman in Nakapiripirit I will never forget, she had been married to nine men, and all of them died because of the gun,” President Museveni recalled.

He praised the Karamojong for cooperating with security forces during disarmament, commending individuals such as Judith Natuk for convincing youth warriors to surrender firearms voluntarily. “Now you can see peace, not only in Karamoja but in the whole of Uganda. What was causing war was not much, only greed, where someone thinks about himself alone. The NRM rejected all that,” he said.

President Museveni said the government’s focus on infrastructure had already improved the region’s connectivity, noting the extension of electricity from Soroti to Karenga and plans to tarmac major roads.

“Your problem with telephones is now solved, and the next issue to tackle is roads, like the tarmac from Lira to Kitgum up to Sudan. We are also going to work on the Moroto–Kotido road,” he said.

He emphasised that economic transformation requires prioritising roads, power, and industry before salary increases. “When we tell our teachers to hold on as we construct roads, they say, ‘No, you have to pay us now.’ But development benefits everyone, wealth is yours alone, but development is for all,” he said.

Museveni revealed that several investors had been drawn to Karamoja’s improved security and were setting up cement and other manufacturing plants to boost local employment.

Water, education and health

The President acknowledged that access to safe water remains a challenge in Kotido, with only 125 out of 491 villages currently covered. “The water situation here is still low; out of 491 villages, only 125 have access to safe water. But we are working to change that,” he said.

He listed ongoing water projects, including three piped systems, valley dams such as Sinat (4.4 billion litres), Kaoyagorok (1.7 billion litres), and Kailong (167 million litres), as well as solar-powered irrigation schemes and boreholes.

On education, President Museveni reiterated his stance against school fees in government schools and promoted skilling hubs as a model for free vocational learning. “These skilling hubs train students for just six months for free, and they are now producing items that we used to import from China,” he said.

The President also promised further upgrades to health facilities, noting plans to elevate Kacheri Health Centre III to IV and to convert several Health Centre IIs to IIIs across the district.

First Lady Janet Museveni thanked residents for their support and urged them to embrace transformation in the next term. “The message of transformation is very important for Karamoja in the next Kisanja so that there will be tremendous development in the whole sub-region,” she said.

Dr Lokii John Baptist, the NRM vice chairperson for the Karamoja sub-region, thanked President Museveni for restoring democracy and peace. He praised the UPDF for its role in removing illegal guns and pledged full support for the President in the upcoming elections.

Dr Lochap Paul, the NRM chairperson for Kotido district, also expressed gratitude to the President for upgrading key roads to tarmac, noting that the improvement had spurred local economic growth. He called for the creation of Kapeta district to bring government services closer to the people and appealed for the pardon of Karachunas involved in past disarmament incidents.

He further commended the establishment of the skilling hub in Napak district, which is training youth from across the Karamoja sub-region.