Kampala, Uganda – East Africa / April 22, 2026.
by AdministratorA Case for Equity in Higher Education: Why Karamoja Deserves KAPATU Now
By Hon. Lokii Peter Abrahams
As the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) convenes this month to consider key matters on its agenda, one decision carries profound significance not just for a region, but for the broader question of equity in Uganda’s education system. That decision concerns the application by promoters of Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) for a provisional licence.
For Karamoja, this is not merely an administrative process; it is a long-awaited opportunity to bridge a historical gap.
Uganda’s higher education landscape has expanded steadily over the decades, with close to 60 universities spread across the country, including 10 public institutions. From Makerere University in Kampala, established in 1922, to newer institutions such as Muni University in West Nile and Mountains of the Moon University in Tooro, nearly every sub-region now hosts a university serving its population’s academic and developmental needs.
Yet Karamoja remains a glaring exception.
More than a century after the sub-region was incorporated into Uganda in 1911, and over 100 years since Makerere opened its doors, Karamoja still lacks a university. This absence is not just symbolic—it has real consequences for access to education, human capital development, and regional transformation.
The case for KAPATU is therefore both urgent and compelling.
According to its promoters, the university has met the core requirements for a provisional licence. Infrastructure is in place, including lecture facilities, a library, laboratories, student accommodation, and sufficient land. Academic programmes have been designed, and the institution is ready to begin operations pending regulatory approval.
But beyond infrastructure, the argument for KAPATU is fundamentally about fairness.
Government policy has increasingly leaned toward establishing a university in every sub-region—not as an exercise in regional balancing for its own sake, but as a practical strategy to expand access to higher education. The Vice President has reiterated this position, while the President has previously indicated that KAPATU could evolve into a nucleus public university in the future.
Granting a provisional licence now would be a logical first step toward that vision.
The transformative potential of such an institution in Karamoja cannot be overstated. Access to a university within the region would ease the financial and social burden on families who struggle to send their children to distant institutions. It would also improve school completion rates by giving learners a realistic pathway to higher education within their reach.
Equally important, KAPATU could serve as a catalyst for socio-economic change. By equipping students and local communities with practical skills—particularly in areas like financial management, technology, and entrepreneurship—the university would complement existing government programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga, and the Youth Livelihood Programme.
In regions historically affected by marginalisation, education is more than a service—it is a stabilising force. Increased literacy, reduced school dropout rates, and expanded economic opportunities are all linked to long-term peace and development. In Karamoja’s case, the presence of a university could contribute to reducing cross-border insecurity and fostering a more resilient society.
Critically, KAPATU should not be viewed through a narrow commercial lens. Its value lies not in profit, but in its potential as a tool for inclusion, empowerment, and regional integration.
The NCHE now has an opportunity to make a decision that aligns with both national policy and the principles of equitable development. Granting KAPATU a provisional licence would not only unlock immediate academic activity but also signal a commitment to ensuring that no region is left behind in Uganda’s educational journey.
For Karamoja, that signal is long overdue.
The writer is the Member of Parliament for Jie County and a promoter of KAPATU.
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.
by AdministratorWhy Africa’s peace fund should invest in minds, and why KAPATU fits the bill
Kampala, Uganda – East Africa / April 22, 2026.
By Counsel Twinobusingye Severino
Peace is often spoken about as an outcome. Rarely is it treated as a discipline.
Across religions, however, the pattern is clear. Whether in Christianity or Islam, children are not simply born into belief, they are trained into it. They undergo structured learning, internalising values, boundaries, and responsibilities before they are entrusted with full participation in their faith.
Peace, arguably, requires the same intentional cultivation.
Yet the world appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
Since late February this year, the Middle East has once again reminded us of the cost of neglecting diplomacy. The confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, driven largely by technological capability, left destruction in its wake before a ceasefire was eventually reached. Advanced weapons, from drones to ballistic missiles, defined the battlefield. Ironically, it was not superior firepower that ended the conflict, but negotiation.
That lesson is not new. It is simply ignored too often.
In many advanced economies today, higher education increasingly feeds into the machinery of war. Research and innovation are channelled into building more sophisticated weapons—biological, chemical, and kinetic. The pursuit of knowledge, in this sense, has been closely tied to the pursuit of military advantage.
What remains underdeveloped, particularly in Africa, is the academic investment in peace itself.
Few universities on the continent offer specialised training in peace-building, diplomacy, and conflict prevention. Yet history consistently shows that while peace can be imposed through force, it rarely endures without understanding. Sustainable peace is negotiated, not enforced.
Africa’s own experience reinforces this truth. From the Great Lakes region to the Horn of Africa, the gun has left deep scars, civil wars, displacement, and generations shaped by instability. Uganda alone hosts over a million refugees, many fleeing conflicts within the region.
Against this backdrop, the African Union’s recent decision to operationalise its Peace Fund is both timely and necessary. At the 39th AU Summit earlier this year, member states committed to building a more sustainable financing mechanism for peace initiatives, with a target of mobilising $400 million and ensuring Africa funds at least a quarter of its own peace operations.
It is a significant step.
But it also raises an important question: will this fund be used primarily to respond to conflicts, or to prevent them?
The distinction matters.
If the Peace Fund is to achieve lasting impact, it must go beyond firefighting. Prevention—investing in the intellectual and social foundations of peace—offers far greater returns. And that investment must begin with the youth, who are often both the drivers and victims of conflict.
This is where institutions of learning come in.
Africa needs to think of peace not only as a policy objective, but as a field of study. Universities should be at the centre of this shift, producing graduates trained not just in law, politics, or security, but in the practical art of building and sustaining peace.
The African Union should, therefore, consider establishing regional peace hubs anchored in higher education institutions.
For East Africa, the case for the Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) is compelling.
Karamoja is not just another location. It is a sub-region that has lived through decades of insecurity, marginalisation, and underdevelopment. Its history makes it an unlikely but powerful setting for transformation. A university rooted in such a context is uniquely positioned to engage with the realities of conflict—not as theory, but as lived experience.
KAPATU’s proposed academic focus on peace and diplomacy aligns directly with the AU’s ambition to “silence the guns” across the continent. Its geographic location also places it at the heart of the wider Ateker region, linking communities across Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia—areas that share both cultural ties and security challenges.
Uganda’s role as a major refugee-hosting country further strengthens the case. With populations from across Africa living within its borders, the country offers a natural laboratory for studying displacement, integration, and post-conflict recovery.
In this context, KAPATU is more than a university project. It is a strategic opportunity.
The disarmament of Karamoja has addressed the physical instruments of conflict. The next challenge is more complex: changing mindsets shaped by years of violence. That transformation cannot be achieved through security interventions alone. It requires education—structured, deliberate, and sustained.
The AU Peace Fund, if deployed with foresight, could support precisely this kind of intervention.
Rather than waiting for conflicts to erupt and then mobilising resources to contain them, the continent has an opportunity to invest in long-term stability by nurturing a generation equipped with the skills and mindset for peace-building.
Peace is not accidental. It is taught, practised, and reinforced over time.
Just as faith is nurtured through institutions, so too must peace be cultivated through systems of learning. Universities like KAPATU can play that role—training not just negotiators, but ambassadors of coexistence.
If Africa is serious about silencing the gun, it must first educate the hand that holds it.
The Writer is Chairperson KAPATU Council
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.
by AdministratorPRESS STATEMENT: Official Response to the Statement by the ED NCHE before the Sectoral Committee on Education of the Parliament of Uganda
Official response to the statement by the ED NCHE before the Sectoral Committee on Education of the Parliament of Uganda
by AdministratorKAPATU and Karamoja’s Long Walk to Educational Justice
Kampala, Uganda – East Africa / April 1, 2026.
By Counsel Twinobusingye Severino
For decades, Karamoja has carried a burden that Uganda, and indeed the world, can no longer ignore: a persistent, deeply entrenched education deficit that begins in primary school and stretches all the way to university level. The statistics are not just grim; they are a moral indictment.
In Karamoja, dropping out of school is not an exception. It is the norm.
Reports over the years have told this story with unsettling consistency. Violence, poverty, hunger, and distance have conspired to push children out of classrooms and into cycles of survival. A 2023 Global Press Journal report painted a stark picture: insecurity had returned with force, driving both learners and teachers away from schools. In rural areas, only a fraction of children, about 15 percent, were able to attend school. The rest were left behind, not by choice, but by circumstance.
The consequences are devastating. More than half of pupils do not complete primary education. Many drop out as early as Primary Five. For girls, early marriage looms as an alternative path; for boys, cattle rustling becomes both occupation and identity. Poverty compounds everything—forcing children into mining, domestic labour, or long treks that make schooling nearly impossible.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, a staggering 74.2 percent of primary school-age children in Karamoja are out of school. Literacy stands at just 24 percent, far below the national average. These are not just numbers; they represent a generation systematically denied opportunity.
Yet beneath this bleak reality lies a deeper, often overlooked problem: the absence of a clear educational pathway beyond secondary school.
Even for the few who manage to persevere through O and A levels, the journey typically ends there. University education remains geographically distant, financially inaccessible, and socially out of reach. For many families, sending a child to a university outside Karamoja is simply not an option.
This is where the idea of Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) becomes not just relevant, but transformative.
KAPATU is more than a university project. It is a statement of intent. A declaration that Karamoja’s children deserve the same educational continuum as any other Ugandan child. Conceived through the vision of the Catholic Lawyers’ Society International (CLASI) and backed by the Kotido Catholic Diocese and government partners, KAPATU represents a long-awaited intervention in a region historically excluded from higher education infrastructure.
Its significance cannot be overstated.
For the first time, Karamoja will have its own university, rooted in its realities, responsive to its needs, and accessible to its people. Located in Losilang, Kotido Municipality, and supported by satellite campuses across the sub-region, KAPATU promises to bring higher education within physical and financial reach.
And that changes everything.
When students can see a university within their own region, education ceases to be an abstract ideal and becomes a tangible goal. Retention improves. Motivation strengthens. Aspirations expand. The dropout crisis, long fuelled by a lack of opportunity, begins to lose its grip.
Listen to the voices of the students themselves. For many, KAPATU is not just an institution; it is hope made visible. A Senior Six candidate who once saw university as an unattainable dream now speaks of becoming part of the pioneer class. Another, aspiring to join the nursing profession, sees in KAPATU a pathway that was previously unimaginable.
These are not isolated sentiments, they reflect a collective yearning.
The overwhelming turnout during the project’s unveiling last November was not merely ceremonial. It was symbolic. Karamoja is ready. Ready to rewrite its story. Ready to prioritise education as the cornerstone of its socio-economic transformation.
But readiness alone is not enough.
The future of this transformative vision now rests with the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). The granting of a provisional licence to KAPATU is not a procedural formality, it is a historic decision. One that could either accelerate or delay Karamoja’s journey toward educational equity.
If approved, KAPATU will do more than produce graduates. It will disrupt cycles of poverty, reduce school dropout rates, and redefine what is possible for an entire region. It will ensure that dropping out is no longer dictated by lack of access, but becomes a matter of personal choice—rare, not routine.
Karamoja has waited long enough.
The question is no longer whether the region deserves a university. It is whether the country is prepared to correct a long-standing imbalance and invest in a future where every child, regardless of geography, has a fair shot at education.
KAPATU offers that chance.
It must not be delayed.
The Writer is Chairperson KAPATU Council
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.
by AdministratorKAPATU: A Tool for Social-Economic Transformation | Documentary
The Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) Project is a transformative initiative that aims to bring higher education, peace, and technological advancement to the Karamoja subregion of northeastern Uganda. Initiated by the Catholic Diocese of Kotido, the Catholic Diocese of Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers’ Society International, and the Government of Uganda, KAPATU was established to create new opportunities for the people of Karamoja.
This documentary tells the story behind the vision, the journey of establishing the university, and the hope it brings to a region that has long faced challenges such as poverty, insecurity, and limited access to higher education. Located in Losilung, just outside Kotido Municipality, KAPATU aims to empower young people through education, innovation, and skills development while promoting peace and sustainable development.
With Karamoja’s young population and untapped potential in agriculture, minerals, and trade, the university seeks to equip the next generation with the knowledge and skills needed to transform their communities and compete globally.
Watch this documentary to learn about the vision, the progress made so far, and the future of Karamoja through education.
Watch the video below:
by AdministratorKaramoja, Iran, and the Cost of the Gun
Kampala, Uganda – East Africa / March 19, 2026.
By Counsel Twinobusingye Severino
The recent escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, following the February 28, 2026 military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, has once again underscored a familiar truth: where weapons dominate, instability follows. The reported killing of senior Iranian leadership, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggered swift retaliation, with Iran launching missiles across the Gulf targeting U.S. installations and allied interests in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
Since then, the region has descended into deeper crisis. Reports indicate extensive damage to critical infrastructure, including U.S. radar systems, alongside mounting civilian casualties and widespread destruction. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes, has disrupted global trade and heightened economic uncertainty. Civilians in both Iran and Israel now spend prolonged periods in bunkers, their lives reduced to survival, a reality not unfamiliar to communities in northern Uganda that have endured years in internally displaced persons’ camps.
While the United States and its ally maintain that their objective is to degrade Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, Iran’s response reflects a broader pattern, the projection of military power beyond its borders and the targeting of neighbouring states. It is this posture that invites comparison with a long-standing security challenge closer to home: the Karamoja sub-region.
Karamoja, which became part of present-day Uganda in 1926, remains one of the most marginalised regions despite its vast mineral potential. According to the latest Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) census and related national surveys, the sub-region has a population of approximately 1.5 million people, with nearly 60 percent constituting the youth. However, social indicators remain stark: about 86 percent of the population has never received formal education, while literacy levels stand at roughly 30.4 percent, far below the national average of 76.1 percent, as reported by UBOS.
Poverty remains deeply entrenched. UBOS data indicates that household poverty levels in Karamoja stand at approximately 72.4 percent, making it the poorest region in the country. Unemployment among the youth is equally alarming, with an estimated 40 percent out of work, many of whom are drawn into cattle rustling and armed violence.
At the heart of this insecurity lies the widespread availability of illegal firearms. Flowing through porous borders with South Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia, and sustained by past regional conflicts, these weapons have entrenched a culture of armed cattle raiding. Young men, commonly referred to as karacunas, often mobilised under the guidance of elders, carry out raids across neighbouring sub-regions of Teso, Lango, Acholi, and Sebei, leaving communities traumatised, displaced, and economically destabilised.
In Kotido District, places such as Napumpum have become synonymous with the planning of these raids, where elders reportedly meet to determine targets. The execution is then carried out by armed youth who traverse long distances, driven by the belief that cattle in neighbouring communities rightfully belong to them.
The parallels with Iran’s regional posture are striking. Just as Iran leverages its military strength and proxy networks to extend influence across Yemen, Lebanon, and Palestine, the possession of arms in Karamoja has emboldened local actors to assert dominance over neighbouring communities. In both contexts, the gun becomes not merely a tool of defence, but an instrument of expansion and control.
However, there is a critical difference, and it offers a pathway forward.
In East Africa, Uganda and Kenya have, since 2002, undertaken joint disarmament efforts aimed at curbing the proliferation of small arms in Karamoja and the North Rift. These initiatives, involving voluntary surrender, coordinated military operations, and cross-border collaboration, have registered measurable progress. Several illegal firearms have been recovered, armed warriors neutralised, and incidents of cattle raiding significantly reduced.
Though challenges remain, including slow implementation and the need for sustained engagement, the gains are beginning to reshape the region’s trajectory.
Karamoja is now witnessing the early signs of transformation. Investment is gradually taking root, particularly in Kotido District, long considered the epicentre of cattle rustling. Among the most notable initiatives is the proposed Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU), a multi-stakeholder project involving the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), the Kotido Catholic Diocese, and the Government of Uganda. Conceived in 2014 following extensive research, the initiative recognises education as the most viable pathway to long-term socio-economic transformation. Efforts are underway to secure a provisional licence from the National Council for Higher Education, marking a significant step towards reshaping the future of the region.
The lesson is clear.
Where weapons proliferate unchecked, whether in the Middle East or Karamoja, insecurity becomes cyclical, spilling across borders and generations. But where deliberate efforts are made to disarm, educate, and invest, the cycle can be broken.
As the world watches tensions escalate in the Gulf, Uganda’s experience offers an important reminder: sustainable peace is not built on military might alone, but on inclusive development, access to education, and the deliberate dismantling of the structures that sustain violence.
The gun may instil fear, but it is opportunity, grounded in knowledge and equity, that secures lasting peace.
The writer is Chairperson KAPATU-Council.
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.
by AdministratorVIDEO: KAPATU Officials Brief Rt Hon Amama Mbabazi on Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward
In this video, officials from Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) provide an important update to Rt. Hon. Amama Mbabazi. They discuss the project’s progress to date, address the challenges encountered, and outline the next steps for their initiatives.
Watch the video below:
by AdministratorKAPATU Project Leaders Present Progress, Audit Reports to Vice President Alupo
Kampala, Uganda – East Africa / March 12, 2026.
Leaders of the Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) project have presented a progress update and an independent financial audit report to Vice President Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo on funds advanced by the government to kick-start the institution.
The meeting, held at the Vice President’s office, focused on the utilisation of Shs10 billion that government released last year as part of the Shs30 billion seed capital pledged by President Yoweri Museveni for the establishment of the university at Losilang in Kotido Municipality.
The KAPATU delegation was led by the university’s president and Bishop of Kotido Catholic Diocese, Rt Rev Dominic Eibu (MCCJ). Other members included the university council chairperson, Mr Severino Twinobusingye; Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Prof Annette Kezaabu; Principal Technical Advisor Dr Robert Limlim; University Secretary Mr Henry Kyarimpa; and the institution’s chief of security, Amb Phillip Idro, among other officials.
While presenting the report, Mr Twinobusingye said the project received the Shs10 billion in two instalments of Shs3 billion and Shs7 billion, leaving a balance of Shs20 billion yet to be disbursed.
In Pictures:
He explained that in line with the institution’s commitment to transparency and accountability, the university engaged external auditors to review the utilisation of the funds. The audit report formed part of three documents presented to the Vice President, who also serves as the founding Deputy Chancellor of KAPATU. President Museveni is the founding Chancellor.
The other documents included a report detailing KAPATU’s activities between 2014 and 2023, culminating in the laying of the foundation stone at Losilang, and an 890-page report outlining achievements, challenges, and the project’s future plans.
The delegation also screened a 59-minute documentary highlighting the university’s role in the socio-economic transformation of Karamoja.
“At KAPATU, we emphasise transparency and accountability in the management of public funds. The President pledged Shs30 billion and we have so far received Shs10 billion, which has been utilised. We commissioned external auditors and this is the report,” Mr Twinobusingye said while presenting the documents.
He described KAPATU as a strategic initiative aimed at driving socio-economic transformation in Karamoja.
Achievements
Dr Limlim highlighted key milestones achieved so far, including the KAPATU unveiling and thanksgiving ceremony held on November 23, 2025, at Losilang. The event attracted participants from across Karamoja and the wider Ateker region, including the Ethiopian Ambassador representing the Ateker community in Ethiopia.
According to Dr Limlim, the event served as a major advocacy platform for the university project, drawing widespread support from communities across the region.
Other achievements include hosting a verification team from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) on December 16, 2025, furnishing of offices and the university library, restructuring staff, conducting a financial audit, and the ongoing construction of an administration block.
The project has also produced a documentary aimed at raising visibility and advocacy for the university, initiated engagement with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council, and facilitated the establishment of a police post at Losilang to enhance security.
However, Dr Limlim noted that the project faces challenges, including delays by NCHE to grant the institution a provisional licence required to begin academic programmes.
He appealed to the Vice President to support efforts to expedite the licensing process and also assist in securing the remaining Shs20 billion pledged by government.
Government response
In her remarks, Vice President Alupo commended the KAPATU team for documenting the project’s progress and maintaining accountability in the management of public funds.
She also praised the concept behind the university, noting that its focus on peace and technology aligns with the development needs of Karamoja.
“The challenges notwithstanding, what matters is the mission and vision of this project. I stand ready to act as a connector as we continue implementing programmes aimed at transforming Karamoja,” she said.
H.E Alupo said the government has undertaken several interventions in the region but emphasised that long-term transformation will depend on equipping people with skills and education.
She added that establishing universities in different regions is intended to make higher education more accessible to students whose families struggle to send them far from home.
The Vice President pledged that government would study the submissions from the KAPATU leadership to ensure the project continues progressing.
Rt Rev Eibu also congratulated President Museveni and Vice President Alupo on their recent electoral victory and reiterated the university’s commitment to supporting the development of Karamoja.
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. With its main campus situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by H.E. the Vice President, Maj. Jessica Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.