President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has said that he wants all the people in the Karamoja sub-region to benefit from the ongoing industrial development in the area. The President made the remarks Tuesday during the groundbreaking ceremony of a clinker and cement production plant in Moroto District.

“You heard that these factories which will make clinker will save Uganda 380 million US Dollars of imported clinker and they will create jobs as well as pay taxes. So the people working in the factories will benefit, the government will benefit by taxes but I also want all the Karimojongs to benefit in all the other ways,” \Museveni said.

Clinker is the backbone of cement production.

The factory is being set up by West International Holding Limited, a subsidiary of China West Cement Limited, a Hong Kong listed company. The firm is an international group enterprise integrating cement production and marketing, corporate management and industrial investment.

Founded in September 2019, West International Holding Limited, is committed to the investment, operation and management of cement enterprises in African and Central Asian countries and regions, specializing in the operation and management of the cement sector.

Museveni, however, noted that since all the people of Karamoja cannot work in the cement factory, they can create business streams that can help them to also make money from the factory indirectly.

“All of you cannot come here to work in the factory but the workers in the factory don’t come with their own gardens yet they need food, they need milk, they need beef and others, that is how all other Karimojongs can come in,” he explained.

“These factories, which are beginning to come, will gather a big population that will need to be fed so you will share the money of the factory through selling food to them. Are you willing to take that money, or do you want it to be taken by others? This is how the economy grows.

I’m a cattle keeper, I sell milk in my village near Rwakitura but there they pay me between Shs600-1000 per litre but the people who are keeping cows near Kampala, they get more than Shs2000 per litre. Therefore, these factories which are coming in to bring more people together are very good for the area. Now produce food, build big hotels, build shops so that they can buy from you,” he added.

On the other hand, the President cautioned the 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.

Museveni further pledged that the government will tarmac the roads from Moroto to Kotido and Kaabong and that from Kitgum to Kidepo.The President told the investors that the government is working towards stabilizing the cost to 5 cents per unit.

The Minister of State for Minerals, Peter Lokeris, said in order to promote the sustainable exploitation of Uganda’s minerals, the strategic objective of the government is to promote value addition for employment creation, industrialization and local content development.

Lokeris 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.

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.