Hon. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, chairing the House Committee on Presidential Affairs on Tuesday, 22 September 2026

By Joseph Kiggundu

Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee has asked the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to provide detailed plans, financing arrangements and implementation timelines before Government opens a new refugee settlement in Kitgum District.

The committee, chaired by Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, raised concerns about the readiness of the proposed settlement during a meeting with OPM officials led by Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Sam Engola on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.

The proposed settlement is located in Amida West Sub-county, where the local community has reportedly offered about 490 acres of land to accommodate refugees.

Mapenduzi said the committee had received documents supporting the proposed settlement, including a resolution by the Kitgum District Council and an approved physical planning report. MPs were also examining documents relating to environmental, social and climate impact assessments.

However, the committee raised concerns over gaps in essential services identified in OPM’s own assessment of the site.

Mapenduzi said the ministry needed to provide clear information on the availability of water, sanitation and healthcare, including who would finance the services, the estimated costs and when they would be completed.

“Latrines are supposed to be there. You need water sources. You need to have a medical facility, health facility,” Mapenduzi told the OPM officials.

He said the implementation plan should contain clear deadlines to enable Parliament to monitor progress and ensure that refugees are not relocated to a site without adequate facilities.

Engola told the committee that preparations for the settlement were already underway, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other development partners supporting the project.

He said UNHCR had completed mapping and demarcation of the settlement site, while a partner had committed to drilling five boreholes.

“We cannot move until water is there. The demarcation for the toilets is already there,” Engola said.

The minister said health facilities were already available in the area, while OPM was negotiating with development partners to provide additional services required at the settlement.

“Health centres are already there. We are really busy asking our donors to help us immediately. And UNHCR has agreed,” he said.

Engola assured MPs that no refugees would be transferred to the new settlement until water and sanitation facilities had been established.

He said the settlement was ready for opening once the outstanding preparations were completed, adding that UNHCR had indicated its willingness to provide financial support, while UNICEF was undertaking water-drilling works.

Other development partners, he said, had also expressed interest in supporting the project.

Engola said the approaching rainy season had added urgency to the preparations and that he would travel to Kitgum with his technical team to begin the outstanding works.

He also told the committee that the project had funding and that international partners were continuing to support refugees and host communities.

DRDIP projects

The committee also questioned OPM officials over delayed and incomplete projects under the first phase of the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP I), a World Bank-supported programme targeting refugee-hosting districts.

Mapenduzi said some of the explanations provided by OPM concerning the stalled projects were insufficient and were not backed by the required documentation.

The committee has summoned contractors accused of failing to complete DRDIP I projects to appear before it next Wednesday.

According to progress reports submitted by OPM, several projects remain incomplete, including roads and bridges in Yumbe and Lamwo districts, a council hall and health centre in Yumbe, and an administration block in Terego.

Some of the delays have been attributed to changes in the scope of the projects.