Construction of 7 police posts in Karamoja nears completion

BY: ISAIAH KITIMBO

MOROTO – Construction of the seven community police posts aimed at improving safety and security for economic development in Karamoja Sub-region has registered steady progress with many sites set for completion by end of September 2022.

Seven firms were last year awarded contracts by Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), to construct a community police post and accommodation facilities for police officers in each of the seven districts of Abim, Amudat, Karenga, Kotido, Moroto, Napak and Nakapiripirit under the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), a government programme supported by the European Union.

According to the DINU Programme Engineer Eliseo Oyoo, some of the contractors have completed the major works and six of the seven sites are expected to be ready by the end of next month.

“The contractor for Lokori site in Karenga District has finished painting the office block, accommodation facilities and the pit-latrine. He will now embark on fixing interior doors and plumbing works for the office block,” Mr. Oyoo said in Moroto last week.

Accommodation facilities at Lokori Police Post

He added: “The contractor for Morulem in Abim District will soon start electrical installation and plastering. The rest of the contractors have finished roofing and will start plastering works apart from one for Apeitolim site in Napak District who is currently at ring beam level”.

Ms. Pamela Kabahesi, the DINU National Programme Coordinator, said every police post will be equipped with solar power, furniture, two motorcycles, water harvesting system and a borehole.

“Seven firms out of the 19 bidders were identified through a rigorous procurement process and awarded contracts to construct the police posts. The firms are: African Construction Technicians & Constructors (U) Ltd, Santur Business Link Ltd, Desert Breeze Hotel Ltd, and Jie Allelulyah Enterprises Ltd. Others are Rhino United Agencies Ltd, Kelae & Sons Ltd and Gulit Global Technologies Ltd,” she said.

Plastering and painting of accommodation facilities underway at Morulem Police Post in Abim District

OPM support

At the contracts signing ceremony in Moroto last year, Mr Gonzaga Mayanja, the Commissioner Monitoring, and Evaluation – Local Governments at OPM, who represented the Permanent, said the police posts are part of the OPM support to Uganda Police Force (UPF) to improve safety and security in order to promote socio-economic development in the sub-region.

“As we all know, the security situation in Karamoja Sub-region is still marred by incidents of violence, raids and attacks on communities. This is therefore a very timely intervention which I believe will contribute tremendously to reducing the incidents of insecurity in the sub-region. Government of Uganda is committed to ending insecurity in Karamoja and will continue to support the sub-region by all means possible,” he said on October 21, 2021.

He asked the contractors to exercise utmost integrity to ensure delivery of construction works with the highest standards in a professional manner.

He added: “After signing your contract, the clock starts ticking and you should start mobilization right away. You only have nine months to complete these works but the earlier the better. I urge you to read your contracts carefully to understand the provisions therein to avoid any future contradictions. I therefore direct that the OPM DINU PMU works with UPF and the respective district authorities to organize the site handovers next week”.

Mr Mayanja thanked the European Union for supporting the Government of Uganda in improving safety and security in Karamoja through increasing presence and strengthening capacities of the UPF saying; “These will be permanent milestones in the Karamoja Sub-region”.

On the occasion of signing contracts last year, the UPF Ag. Director of Research, Planning and Development, Snr Commissioner of Police James Ocaya said Karamoja Sub-region has had a long history of insecurity which has led to low levels of development in the area.  He, however said the security situation in Karamoja has greatly improved, since 2006 when the government initiated the disarmament campaign coupled with other security interventions.

“UPF would like to thank the European Union and Office of the Prime Minister for continuously supporting police over the years, especially in Karamoja Sub-region. Your intervention has greatly enabled UPF to have tremendous achievements as far as enforcement of law and order is concerned,” he said.

Contractors and area covered

DINU background

The Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), a Government of Uganda programme supported by the European Union and supervised by Office of the Prime Minister, was initiated in 2017. The EURO 150.6 million (about Shs597b) multi-sectoral integrated programme covers interventions in three interlinked sector: (1) food security, nutrition and livelihoods, (2) infrastructure (transport, logistics, water, energy) and (3) good governance. DINU is implemented in 41 districts in the five sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and West Nile for a duration of six years.

OPM is responsible for the overall supervision of the DINU programme in partnership with local governments and a wide range of stakeholders, including other implementing partners: The United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office /Trademark East Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA).

Other key implementing partners are CARITAS Switzerland, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (ITTA), National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), CARE-Denmark, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), ADOL Health Care Initiative and DIAKONIA-Sweden.

Further details on the DINU programme can be found at Twitter: @OPMDINU1 and OPM website: www.opm.go.ug