Parliament has questioned the financing and accountability framework for the proposed 15.1 trillion-shilling, 10-year Karamoja Regional Development Plan, demanding an assessment of previous government interventions before the new programme is rolled out. The plan, covering the financial years 2025/26 to 2034/35, is intended to transform Karamoja from a predominantly nomadic and agro-pastoralist society into a more settled and commercially productive region.
But when Minister for Karamoja Affairs John Baptist Lokii and his junior Minister Esther Anyakun appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Presidential Affairs on Thursday, MPs questioned whether the government had established what became of previous investments in the region and why some interventions failed to deliver lasting results.
Oyam South MP Patrick Obura asked the ministry to provide a detailed breakdown of the 15.1 trillion shillings, rather than presenting the money as a broad pool expected from government, local authorities, development partners, the private sector and civil society.
Under the proposed financing framework, 55 percent of the plan’s funding is expected from the Government of Uganda, 3.8 percent from locally raised revenue, 17.4 percent from external support, 23.7 percent from the private sector and 0.7 percent from civil society organisations and academia.
However, the plan qualifies these contributions as being subject to resource availability. The financing question is significant because the proposed programme comes after years of government interventions in Karamoja targeting food security, water, livestock production, education, health and peacebuilding.
Amuru District Woman Representative Lucy Akello asked whether government had ever comprehensively evaluated the programmes and money previously invested in the region.
Kayunga District Woman Representative Harriet Nakwedde called for an assessment of earlier interventions to establish why they failed to achieve their intended results and prevent the new programme from repeating the same weaknesses. Committee Chairperson Martin Ojara Mapenduzi also questioned the status of government-funded dams that were reportedly left incomplete.
He asked whether the ministry had documented the projects and established who received public funds for projects that were never completed. The committee also raised concerns about the management of the recent 45-billion-shilling emergency food intervention in Karamoja, citing conflicting accounts over expenditure and the number of households that actually received food.
The questions come against a backdrop of repeated government programmes aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability in the sub-region. The Office of the Prime Minister’s Drylands Integrated Development Project has focused on strengthening pastoral production, improving rural production and market infrastructure, and expanding basic social services.
Earlier interventions under the Karamoja Integrated Development Programme also targeted food and nutrition security, crop and livestock productivity, education, clean water, irrigation and health infrastructure. Government records indicate that previous KIDP interventions included procurement of improved seeds, provision of irrigation water and support to health infrastructure.
The proposed KRDP now seeks to bring these interventions into a much larger, 10-year regional development programme. Presenting the plan to MPs, Minister Lokii outlined flagship investments including a proposed 7.2-kilometre man-made lake at Lopei, bulk water transfer from Lake Bisina, indigenous seed production, livestock processing, industrial parks, education and health infrastructure, electrification and roads.
Lokii said President Yoweri Museveni had directed the Ministry of Water and Environment to begin surveys for the proposed Lopei lake. The government believes the lake could provide water for livestock and irrigation and potentially supply neighbouring districts.
Lokii also proposed transferring bulk water from Lake Bisina, near Lake Kyoga, to dry areas of Karamoja. The plan also proposes reviving indigenous seed production in Kaabong, Karenga and Nabilatuk. Lokii said drought-resistant, early maturing and pest-resistant varieties traditionally used in Karamoja are disappearing and need to be preserved and multiplied. The livestock programme would include a meat-processing and hides-and-skins plant in Kotido and the development of beef, leather and dairy value chains.
In Moroto, Lokii said feasibility studies were being undertaken for an industrial park, with the Ministries of Lands, Energy and Water and the National Planning Authority involved. Other proposed investments include a cement industry, completion of the Karamoja airport, upgrading of the Karenga-Kidepo-Kaabong road, expansion of electricity, construction of 73 public boarding primary schools and 44 secondary schools, a university and, eventually, a railway to transport minerals and other bulk commodities.
The education component builds on longstanding calls by Karamoja MPs for greater access to compulsory boarding education in the region. The government also plans to expand youth skilling, support former Karacunas, improve agricultural production, strengthen cross-border trade, rehabilitate children living on the streets and establish market linkages.
But the emphasis on water, food security and climate resilience reflects challenges that remain immediate in Karamoja. The sub-region continues to face recurrent drought and food insecurity, while the government has had to combine emergency relief with longer-term development interventions.
In July 2026, the Office of the Prime Minister coordinated emergency food assistance in Karamoja as the government sought to link the immediate response to longer-term resilience measures under the new regional development plan. Minister Anyakun told MPs that the KRDP was deliberately designed as a whole-of-government programme to avoid duplication.
She said the Ministry for Karamoja Affairs would coordinate interventions rather than independently constructing dams, roads or electricity infrastructure. The National Planning Authority has also identified Karamoja as one of the regions requiring targeted development interventions because of persistent regional disparities.
The Fourth National Development Plan notes that poverty reduction has been uneven across Uganda and identifies Karamoja among regions where poverty levels have increased. The central question now before government is therefore not only how to mobilise the 15.1 trillion shillings, but whether the systems are in place to ensure that the money produces measurable improvements after years of public spending on similar challenges.
The parliamentary scrutiny is expected to determine whether government can demonstrate the performance of previous interventions, establish the gaps they left behind, and provide a sufficiently detailed financing and implementation framework for the new 10-year programme-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
