Gov’t Commits Shs135bn for Famine-Stricken Karamoja, Says PM Nabbanja

Government has provided Shs135 billion for food in Karamoja for three months.

Prime Minister Rt Hon Robinah Nabbanja said this will include seedlings for planting.

“I want to assure you colleagues that over 200 metric tons of food has gone to Karamoja and we want to see how to secure Karamoja because as it stands now, Karamoja is still insecure,” she said.

She made this revelation on Tuesday at a parliamentary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa.

Nabbanja said that Cabinet that sat on Monday, July 11, 2022, noted with concern the situation in Karamoja and came up with proposals to resolve the matter.

Faith Nakut, the Napak District Woman MP, said the people in the Karamoja sub-region are dying of hunger caused by the bad weather that has failed agriculture.

Nakut says that although there have been responses by the Office of the Prime Minister to give food, more needs to be done.

“Unfortunately, the quantity supplied were not reasonable to feed a family for a week. Each family got a kilogram of beans and about three of posho. As we speak, there are thousands of people at risk,” Nakut said.

She added that it is shameful for an agriculture-rich country to have people dying because of a lack of food.

Francis Adome, the Moroto Municipality MP, said the proposal to provide food to starving Ugandans is not sustainable and very expensive.

“The biggest problem I see is lack of participation between the government and leaders. Government needs to listen to us and get advice from us. Because what we are doing of taking relief is not sustainable; why can’t we mechanize agriculture for instance?” he said.

Oyam District Woman MP, Santa Alum, said Lango sub-region has not been spared by the famine.

“My prayer is that the Office of the Prime Minister gives us food to address the issue in the short term; for the long term, we don’t have seeds; the seeds that we planted have all dried,” she said.

The Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa, tasked the Prime Minister to present a comprehensive statement on government’s strategy to resolve the food crisis not only in Karamoja but in the entire region.