KOTIDO, Uganda – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni pledged to transform the Karamoja region into an industrial hub during a campaign rally held at Lomukura Primary School on Thursday.
Accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, the president began his address by commending the people of Karamoja for embracing peace and supporting government efforts to disarm the region.
“Our first point in the NRM Manifesto is peace,” Museveni said. “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.”
He thanked local leaders and youth groups who assisted in the voluntary disarmament process, singling out individuals like Natuk Judith for convincing the karachunas (youth warriors) to hand over their weapons.
“Now you can see peace — not only in Karamoja but in the whole of Uganda,” he said. “What was causing war was not much, only greed, where someone thinks about himself alone. The NRM rejected all that.”
Museveni said the National Resistance Movement’s rejection of divisive tribal and religious politics built a strong, united movement and established solid state institutions.
On development, the president highlighted the extension of the electricity grid from Soroti through Kotido to Karenga. He said the government’s next priority is improving roads, including tarmacking the route from Lira to Kitgum and onward to Sudan, as well as the Moroto-Kotido road.
He cautioned that infrastructure must take precedence over salary increases, telling teachers, “Development benefits everyone — wealth is yours alone, but development is for all.”
Museveni outlined plans to capitalize on the region’s peace to attract private investment, including cement factories, to establish Karamoja as an industrial center.
Addressing water access, he acknowledged that only 125 of Kotido’s 491 villages have safe water. He detailed completed projects, including the Sinat Valley Dam with a capacity of 4.4 billion liters, the Kaoyagorok Dam with 1.7 billion liters, and the Kailong Earth Dam with 167 million liters. Twenty-two valley tanks and solar-powered irrigation systems have also been finished, with more boreholes and irrigation schemes under construction.
On education, the president reiterated his commitment to free education and pointed to newly established skilling hubs as a model.
“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.
On health, he pledged to continue upgrading facilities across the district, including elevating Kacheri Health Centre III to IV and converting several Health Centre IIs to IIIs.
In her remarks, Janet Museveni thanked the community for its support.
“I am so happy to be in Karamoja. Coming here is like coming home,” she said, urging residents to embrace a message of transformation in the next term to ensure development spreads across the region.
Dr. John Baptist Lokii, the NRM vice chairperson for the Karamoja region, thanked the president for restoring peace and democracy, pledging 100% support in the upcoming elections.
Dr. Paul Lochap, the NRM chairperson for Kotido District, thanked the government for road upgrades and requested the creation of Kapeta District to bring services closer to the people. He also appealed for a pardon for karachunas involved in past disarmament incidents.
