Teso MPS protest rotten beans
Sep 05, 2007
TESO MPs have said some of the beans supplied by the Government as relief to their people were rotten.
By Paul Kiwuuwa and Apollo Mubiru
TESO MPs have said some of the beans supplied by the Government as relief to their people were rotten.
The Teso Parliamentary Group yesterday addressed a press conference at Parliament where they displayed some of the rotten samples.
The same samples were later presented to the House.
The group chairman, Patrick Amuriat, said the beans were unfit for human consumption and an insult to their people.
Two weeks ago, heavy rains struck Teso region causing floods which destroyed people’s houses and crops, prompting the Government to send relief items to the region.
MPs accused the Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, for being responsible for the poor quality of beans.
Amuria district MP Acen Rhoda named Angole-wera, Opiria and Inongo-Oteme as the places where the rotten beans had been supplied.
“We demand an explanation from the Government why Teso people are forced to eat rotten beans.â€
Kumi MP Akiror Egunyu complained that the supplier, Jeremu Company, did not contact the Teso district disaster management committee and that there was no transparency in the distribution.
The state minister for disaster preparedness and relief, Musa Ecweru, however, said the MPs’ complaint was raised in bad faith.
He told the House that it was not true that all the bags of beans were rotten.
“There were only four bags of rotten beans out of the 80 bags supplied. I hail from the sub-county which is said to have received rotten beans. How could I get involved in supplying bad food to my own people?†Ecweru charged.
He said the four rotten bags of beans had been returned to Kampala and the ministry was tracing the suppliers.
TESO MPs have said some of the beans supplied by the Government as relief to their people were rotten.
The Teso Parliamentary Group yesterday addressed a press conference at Parliament where they displayed some of the rotten samples.
The same samples were later presented to the House.
The group chairman, Patrick Amuriat, said the beans were unfit for human consumption and an insult to their people.
Two weeks ago, heavy rains struck Teso region causing floods which destroyed people’s houses and crops, prompting the Government to send relief items to the region.
MPs accused the Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, for being responsible for the poor quality of beans.
Amuria district MP Acen Rhoda named Angole-wera, Opiria and Inongo-Oteme as the places where the rotten beans had been supplied.
“We demand an explanation from the Government why Teso people are forced to eat rotten beans.â€
Kumi MP Akiror Egunyu complained that the supplier, Jeremu Company, did not contact the Teso district disaster management committee and that there was no transparency in the distribution.
The state minister for disaster preparedness and relief, Musa Ecweru, however, said the MPs’ complaint was raised in bad faith.
He told the House that it was not true that all the bags of beans were rotten.
“There were only four bags of rotten beans out of the 80 bags supplied. I hail from the sub-county which is said to have received rotten beans. How could I get involved in supplying bad food to my own people?†Ecweru charged.
He said the four rotten bags of beans had been returned to Kampala and the ministry was tracing the suppliers.