President Yoweri Museveni has cautioned people of Karamoja to desist from committing crime and keep peace in the area, to ensure that the industrial development agenda is achieved in the sub-region.
“Now, that means you need to completely uproot those spoilers, In any case, if they don’t come out peacefully, they will die. Other people are going to the moon, but we are here wasting time. For my people of Pokot, the leaders must be very firm. This game of using the fact that you have Pokot in Uganda and Kenya, and you steal cows and take them to Kenya, that should stop,” he noted.
For a long time, Karamoja region has been marred by lots of insecurity a factor that has hindered development in the area.
The President made these remarks on Tuesday during the groundbreaking ceremony of a clinker and cement production plant in Moroto District.
On this occasion, the President was also happy to note that a good number of investors are getting to know more about Uganda as an investment destination and they are coming in to invest in the various sectors of the economy.
“The good thing is that Karamoja has a number of important minerals which include limestone, marble and gold. We are also looking at petroleum in the Kadam valley. For the cement, this is the factory now, it will use the limestone from the North of the Mountain. Now, the adding value to minerals is not going to only happen here, even in other places,” he asserted.
President Museveni further pledged that the government will tarmac the roads from Moroto to Kotido and Kaabong and that from Kitgum to Kidepo.
About the electricity cost, the President told the investors that the government is working towards stabilizing the cost to 5 cents per unit.
In his remarks, Peter Lokeris the Minister of State for Minerals, said that in order to promote the sustainable exploitation of Uganda’s minerals , their strategic objective as government is to promote value addition for employment creation, industrialization and local content development.
“The project will produce approximately 6000 tonnes per day of clinker. Uganda has a present cement production capacity of over 4.5 million tonnes per annum and the demand is projected to increase by 15 percent annually on the background of the booming oil and gas sector and infrastructure development,” he explained.
The Minister further noted that currently, Uganda imports over 50 percent of the clinker it uses in the production of cement and this project will greatly support the government’s import substitution initiative by locally manufacturing clinker within Uganda.
“I would like to appreciate the effort of the private sector towards the development of the mineral sub sector in Uganda.”
On his part, the President of West International Holding Limited, Mr. Wang Fayin said upon completion, the project will play a positive role in the economic development of Uganda.
“Everything is going on smoothly and the project will develop the people of Moroto and Uganda at large, economically,” he explained.
West International Holding limited Uganda Representative, Mr. Hannington Karuhanga said that the clinker and cement project in Moroto is a testament of the possibilities that Uganda can offer when local communities are united, purposeful and organized to attract serious investors.
“It has also been very clear with your bold decision that you have insisted that resources like minerals not be extracted in their raw nature and exported at little or no value to Uganda or indeed Africa in general”
“We are in Moroto today Your Excellency, to ensure that in two years’ time, Moroto will become Uganda’s clinker production hub with potential to supply Uganda with entire clinker requirements and therefore reducing if not eliminating the importation of clinker,” he asserted.
The event was also attended by the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hon. Esther Anyakun, the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, Hon. Rose Lilly Akello, Members of Parliament, among other officials.