President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has spoken out about setting up a university in the Karamoja sub-region.
He made the remarks on Thursday, December 5, 2024, while addressing the people of Karamoja at a rally held at Kotido grounds in Kotido municipality while concluding his performance assessment tour on the Parish Development Model (PDM) and wealth creation.
The President said the plan to establish a university in all 18 zones of Uganda was decided long ago, and about 12 regions such as Teso, West Nile, Fort Portal, Mbarara, and Kabale have universities hence Karamoja too has to benefit.
Uganda has established several public universities in its regions, including in Bunyoro, West Nile, and Teso. These universities are primarily funded and created by the central government but are often seen as owned by the regions they are in. This is due to the desire of many constituencies to have a local university instead of a national one.
At the same rally that was also addressed by the Vice President, H.E Jessica Alupo Rose Epel, leaders in Karamoja unanimously moved a motion to support President Museveni in the 2026 general elections.
They also requested that he offer himself as a candidate on the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket for the re-election.
Wealth and development
President also urged the people of Karamoja to embrace the Parish Development Model (PDM), a program aimed at getting them out of poverty.
Using examples of the people who have already started and are now successful, President Museveni said the Shs100 million sent to the parish every financial year is well designed to boost those in small-scale production to improve their incomes, especially those in the seven activities under commercial agriculture.
“If you get Shs1 million, you can buy some goats and cows. In Kapelebyong I saw many people who had bought young heifers at Shs800,000. This program will be maintained. Each year we send Shs100 million per parish, and I have told the banks to stop deducting bank charges; you must get the Shs1 million in full. So you people, you have no excuse for making friends with poverty,” the President explained.
President Museveni asked the people to separate development, which benefits all, and wealth, which benefits an individual.
He said since independence, many parts of Uganda, such as the roads from Kampala to Mbale and Tororo, had been tarmacked, but they are surrounded by poor people.
“And you have seen that you can have wealth even when there is little development. The man in Abim, Charles, there is no development there, but the man has got wealth, the same in Amudat. If you have your pigs like Lokong, even if there is no tarmac road, and you put your pigs on a pick-up to Mbale, will they refuse because there is no tarmac road? So please let’s be clear.”
On education, the President said the government is going to insist on enforcing free education in government schools.
“Our plan was free education for primary, secondary, and technical, but some people keep charging fees. We were going to fight that. We got diverted because of Corona, but we’re going to insist on free education for all the children in primary and secondary schools,” he stated, adding that Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE) were designed to be day schools where children come to study and return home, to avoid the costs of accommodation so that the government concentrates on paying teachers, setting up laboratories, and buying textbooks.
The meeting was also attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament, and religious leaders, among others.
