Bad weather may affect poll results â€" LC5

Jan 06, 2006

MASAKA LC5 chairman Vincent Ssempijja has warned that the current dry spell in many parts of the country might affect political trends in next month’s general elections.

By Eddie Ssejjoba

MASAKA LC5 chairman Vincent Ssempijja has warned that the current dry spell in many parts of the country might affect political trends in next month’s general elections.

He asked candidates to ensure they addressed this problem with utmost urgency.

Ssempijja was on Wednesday addressing the district council at the Lukiiko Hall during a budget conference.

He said many swamps and rivers in Masaka and surrounding areas had dried up, leading to an acute shortage of food and water for both humans and animals.
Ssempijja said if politicians did not address the weather problem, it could lead to electoral defeats, especially where pastoral communities would look for leaders who will promise to work on their problems.

“If we do not address this problem, it might give an impression that political leaders do not care about people’s needs,” Ssempijja said.

He lamented that districts do not get funds from the government for disasters and appealed to the line ministry to intervene.

Ssempijja promised to dig more water tanks, work on poverty eradication, look for market for agricultural products and attract investors if re-elected to office.
Councillors said the hardest drought-hit areas were the cattle corridor sub-counties of Bukulula, Lwabenge, Kyazanga and Malongo.

The district speaker, Matovu Muzzanganda, told the council that the dry spell might affect Universal Primary education if nothing changed before schools re-open.

He said in Bukulula, children line up for water from 5:00am and return home at about 10:00am.

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