The legislators on the Parliament’s Agriculture Committee have discovered ghost irrigation dams and valley tanks in Karamoja and Teso sub-regions.

Janet Grace Akech Okori-Moe, the committee chairperson and also the Abim District Woman MP, said that despite the government releasing billions of shillings for the construction of these dams in order to foster agriculture in the two regions, some have remained on paper.

“What we found was that some of the dams that are being talked about are not even existing; for example, the Pylong dam, which is supposed to help the community of Kotido, isn’t even existing.

According to Okori-Moe, two irrigation dams that the government released money to fund in Kotido and Abim districts, respectively, haven’t been built. In 2019, government released about Ugx 75billion to fund the construction of irrigation dams to foster agriculture in the two sub regions.

“What we saw at the site of Pylong is some pond with weeds grown all over the place, and I think that one was constructed by the Ministry of Water. There is also one in Abim district that isn’t functional at all, and I think the work wasn’t completed, and those facilities were never handed over to the district,” said MP Okori Moe.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni recently announced that the government is planning to address the water scarcity problem in the Karamoja sub region to spur large agricultural production.

“We are going to bring tractors to the area and ensure sufficient collective food production. We will also address the water scarcity issue by building more dams. We need to provide households with quick avenues to generate income,” President Museveni stated.

This is the latest mismanagement of government initiatives meant to alleviate the Karamoja sub region. A few months ago, three ministers were arrested and are currently undergoing trial over the alleged diversion of relief items meant for the Karamoja sub region, including iron sheets.