Dr. Ayub Mukisa: A Critical Look at Projects and Programmes in Karamoja: Why They Fail (Part 2)

As promised in an article published in Watchdog on 21st  May, Part Two of this discussion on why projects and programmes fail in Karamoja is finally here. This article continues to examine the factors behind the sub-region’s persistently poor performance on key development and social well-being indicators, despite the substantial resources that the government and international donor community continue to invest in the area.

The first issue is the culture of allowances and per diem mentality in project work. A 2017 study by Erasmus on per diems as barriers and enablers of the project cycle showed that per diems act as barriers in the development process because they encourage abuse of donor funding systems, negatively affect individual motivation, and distort the kinds of projects people participate in, ultimately undermining structural development outcomes. The incentive of per diems encourages senior managers to attend training sessions, meetings, and conferences instead of delegating opportunities to subordinates. The implication is that they spend less time fulfilling administrative responsibilities requiring their desk presence.

Furthermore, per diems and other allowances distort human resource management systems. This occurs when staff shift their focus from routine responsibilities to workshop attendance. In my language, this phenomenon is termed the “Karamoja Project Disease (KPD).”

Beyond per diems and allowances lies a deeper challenge: the absence of critical thinking, Critical Reasoning, and Critical Alternative Analyses within project and programme implementation across Karamoja. This failure to ask foundational questions like “What if we are wrong?” or “What else could happen?” remains a primary driver of structural failure within the sub-region.

Some Karamoja scholars, including Professor Mamdani and Dr. Frank Muhereza, have argued that certain projects failed because of violence, barbarism, primitivity, and conservatism among the Karimojong people. However, this article advances a different perspective: that the absence of critical thinking, Critical Reasoning, and Critical Alternative Analyses during project execution remains the dominant factor behind this persistent failure.

For example, most projects operate on a linear Theory of Change, assuming that if Input A is provided, it will automatically lead to Output B and result in Impact C. The systemic flaw within this approach is that programs continue spending money on non-performing strategies because it remains far more convenient to follow the original approved plan than to halt operations, critically reassess, and implement essential structural adjustments.

This article will be continued in Part 3

Ayub Mukisa, PhD
Executive Director, Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition (KACC)
Email: ayubmukisa@gmail.com

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