By: Derrick Senyonga
KARAMOJA
The Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Hon. Peter Lokeris has called upon development partners to stop imposing stringent conditions on recipients of grants especially during implementation so that the intended people directly benefit from such projects.
Hon. Peter Lokeris (centre) Minister for Karamoja Affairs presiding over a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Uganda and his team at the Office of the Prime Minister
Hon. Lokeris made these remarks today morning during a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Takuya Sasayama at the Office of the Prime Minister Head offices in Kampala. The Minister wondered why certain grants given to the country had too many conditions making them unprofitable for local businesses as they were excluded from purchases and supplies.
“Why give us too many conditions? This is one area which is not very profitable. This grant, when it comes, you cannot use it to buy anything in Uganda,” said Hon. Lokeris who appealed that during the design of grant projects, some funds be reserved for use within the recipient country so that project benefits trickle down to the local people.
During the same visit where H.E Sasayama and the Minister discussed progress on exchange notes signed in 2023 by both governments regarding a grant for a fertilizer project that was aimed at boosting food security in Karamoja sub-region worth USD5m or the equivalent to 650m Japanese yen, Hon. Lokeris applauded the Government of Japan for supporting Uganda development efforts such as the construction of the state of art Nile Bridge, support in education among other areas.
“We were doing a lot of things in the past, currently, and we are also planning for the future too,” H.E Sasayama said.
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