OPM awards Shs. 6Bn in contracts to build police posts in Karamoja

OPM awards Shs6 billion in contracts to build police posts in Karamoja

BY ISAIAH KITIMBO

MOROTO – The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has signed contracts amounting to Shs6.2 billion with seven firms for the construction of community police posts in Karamoja Sub-region.

The seven police posts will be constructed in the 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 and supervised by OPM.

Mr Gonzaga Mayanja, the Commissioner Monitoring, and Evaluation – Local Governments at OPM, who represented the Permanent Secretary, said construction of the police posts is part of the OPM support to Uganda Police Force (UPF) to improve safety and security of Karamoja in order to promote socio-economic development in the sub-region.

“As we all know, the security situation in the 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 region by all means possible,” he explained.

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 increased presence and strengthened capacities of the Uganda Police Force saying; “These will be permanent milestones in the Karamoja Sub-region”.

“I extend my sincere thanks to the EUD and NAO for their role in seeing this process to fruition. I would also like to salute the OPM DINUPMU and Technical Assistance Team for ensuring a transparent and fair process that involved various steps. Allow me also to commend the involvement of the District Local Governments and Uganda Police Force in the process”.

Mr Pius Ongom Okello, the DINU National Programme Coordinator, said 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.

“You got these contracts on merit. At the time of recommendation, the district authorities informed us that you had sufficient capacity, right work ethics and you are very professional. So we are hoping that from today as you start work, you will make sure that you perform according to the expectations of DINU programme and the Government of Uganda. I also want to say that as a programme, we are here to support you with the necessary support,” he said.

He said every police post will be equipped with solar power, furniture, two motorcycles, water harvesting system and a borehole.

Contractors and area covered

The Mt Moroto Regional Police Commander, Mr Victor Nahabwe, thanked OPM and development partners for the continued support to improving safety and security in Karamoja.

“This is not the first time. We have been benefiting from similar support and we are grateful. Areas where police stations are constructed grow because of security. Therefore, we urge the contractors to do good job and we are ready to work together,” he said.

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 had greatly enabled UPF to have tremendous achievements as far as enforcement of law and order is concerned,” he said.

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. DINU is funded with a 132.8 million Euros grant from the European Union, 11.9 million Euros from the Government of Uganda and 5.9 million Euros from implementing partners.

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 – Department for International Development (DFID)/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 nine grantees that are implementing various development projects under DINU in areas of agricultural production, livelihood improvement, food security and good governance in the five sub-regions of Acholi, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and West Nile. These include 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