Atleast 74 percent of the Non- Government Organisations (NGOs) in Karamoja Region don’t exist. The revelation was made by Richard Omoding, the Executive Director of Riamiriam Civil Society Network which monitors the activities of the civil society organizations in Karamoja sub region.
A total of 340 International and National Organizations are operating in Uganda’s poorest region, Karamoja. Omoding said they cannot trace 252 (74 percent) of them on the ground of operation.
He said last week, local community in Moroto chased away officials from an NGO after claiming some activities implemented by other development partners.
Apparently they were trying to impress EU ambassadors who were touring development projects in the region. Omoding said they carried out a mapping exercise this year which concluded in April.
“During this exercise, we managed to record physical addresses of only 88 development partners in the Karamoja region,” Amoding said.
“Sometimes we get shocked when we see organizations running to Karamoja whenever big officials come to Karamoja yet they can’t be traced,’’ Omoding said.
Betty Angolere, an Anti-Corruption Monitor for Rupa Sub-County said there is a need for district authorities in Karamoja to consider doing a headcount for all the NGOs operating in the region to get the actual number.
She also advised the funders to always seek guidance from the local community and leaders before releasing any funding to any development partners claiming to be running projects in Karamoja.
“Come to us and have a brief engagement with us before releasing any money to the particular NGO claiming to be operating in Karamoja,” Angolere said.
