Moroto town is undergoing a striking urban transformation that local leaders say has elevated living standards and repositioned the Karamoja sub-region from a historically insecure frontier into an emerging industrial and investment hub.
Once defined by cattle rustling, gun violence, poor infrastructure, food shortages and limited connectivity, Moroto is now attracting investors in mining, manufacturing and hospitality as security stabilises and infrastructure expands.
Moroto District LC5 chairperson Angelo Pulkol said the town’s transformation is closely tied to the disarmament process that began in the early 2000s, which reduced armed violence and opened the region to development.
‘About 15 years ago, we had no tarmac here, and going to school outside Karamoja was a nightmare that involved sleeping on the roads for two days, especially during the rainy season. That has since changed,’ Pulkol said.
He said improved road networks linking Moroto through Soroti, Mbale and Nakapiripirit have eased transport of goods and improved trade flows into the region.
Pulkol said the town, once largely characterised by informal settlements, is now taking on a cosmopolitan character with growing investment in real estate, leisure and commerce.
He said apart from key public infrastructure such as Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, police headquarters, government offices, the Catholic diocese, prisons and a few commercial buildings, much of the town previously consisted of manyattas that he said had been associated with insecurity.
He added that improved stability has encouraged both local and foreign investors to explore Karamoja’s mineral resources.
‘Dollar hotels’
Ms Grace Sagal, 60, who has lived in Moroto since the 1970s, said the town has changed significantly over the past two decades.
‘At one point until early 2005, we only had Moroto Hotel as the only leisure place. Other accommodation had lots of bedbugs, including in police barracks,’ she said.
She said insecurity in the 1990s meant armed raids could occur inside town, especially during cycles of revenge attacks.
‘From previously having just Moroto Hotel, we now have hotels where payment is done in dollars. That is a milestone for us who know the Moroto we lived in three decades ago,’ she said.
She added that food shortages were common in the past, particularly during rainy seasons when transport routes from Katakwi, Nakapiripirit and other areas became impassable.
Another resident, Kassim Wesangala, said electricity access has also transformed daily life.
He said before Moroto was connected to the national grid about 13 years ago, the town relied on diesel generators that operated only between 6:00pm and 6:00am.
He said during the day, businesses relied on solar or private generators, and even charging phones or ironing required waiting for scheduled power hours.
Today, he said, new settlements, supermarkets and leisure facilities have emerged along major roads, including the Moroto-Soroti route.
Moroto’s on a development trajectory
Moroto Municipality Mayor Mark Sire said the town is now witnessing a wave of industrial investments, particularly in cement and construction materials.
He cited the Yaoboi Cement Karamoja factory in Nadunget, which is expected to create about 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, and a planned Tororo Cement plant in Tapac expected to employ more than 4,000 people.
He also pointed to a tile manufacturing plant in Rupa Sub-county owned by Chinese investors, saying such projects are reshaping Moroto’s economic outlook.
‘These plants are directing Moroto’s development trajectory,’ Sire said, adding that discussions for city status remain ongoing.
Mr Mike Longole, the public relations officer for Mt Moroto regional police headquarters, said security improvements have been central to the region’s economic turnaround.
He said sustained operations by the UPDF, territorial police and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) have significantly reduced gun violence and cattle raids.
‘Sustained operations since 2021 have lowered the density of illegal firearms. A gun is now harder to get and riskier to use,’ he said.
He added that security forces have dismantled cross-border raiding networks that previously extended into Kitgum, Agago, Kenya and South Sudan.
Longole said permanent security detachments in sub-counties such as Kacheri, Rengen and Namalu have ensured continuous protection of schools, health centres and markets.
He said improved security has also shifted livelihoods, with more young people moving from cattle raiding into trade, boda-boda business, sand mining and recruitment into security forces.
President Museveni, recently speaking at the opening of the $300 million Yaoboi Cement Karamoja factory in Nadunget, said Karamoja’s future lies in industrialisation and infrastructure development.
He said the factory will produce more than 6,000 tonnes of cement clinker, adding that manufacturing will be central to transforming the region’s economy.