Teso MPs plead for food relief
Jun 17, 2009
FOOD shortage has hit the Teso sub-region and other parts of eastern and northern Uganda, the area MPs have said.
By Madinah Tebajjukira
FOOD shortage has hit the Teso sub-region and other parts of eastern and northern Uganda, the area MPs have said.
The chairman of the Teso Parliamentary Group, Patrick Amuriat (FDC), told a press conference at Parliament yesterday that the shortage was as a result of prolonged drought.
Amuriat with other MPs from Pallisa and Kaberamaido explained that after the 2007 floods, which hit the region, Teso experienced a drought for eight months.
“For about a year, there has been no rain in Teso and we have no hope that we shall have enough rain soon to enable our people plant food,†he said
Amuriat said the population in the affected areas had resorted to eating wild leaves, ants and mangoes, which were also running out.
He identified Amuria, Pallisa, Kaberamaido, Bukedea, Katakwi and Soroti as the most hit districts.
Louis Opange (Independent) called on the Government to provide food aid to the people before deaths are registered.
He appealed to the Government to introduce food stores at every sub-county in the affected areas to solve the crisis.
Opange accused state minister for disaster preparedness Musa Ecweru of selective distribution of food items to gain political support.
He alleged that Ecweru distributes food only in his constituency (Amuria) on the grounds that others were oppositional.
The members demanded that the sh24b, which was released as an emergency fund in 2007 during the Teso floods, be diverted to procure food.
“Money was released but no accountability has ever been submitted,†Opange said.
Ecweru could not be reached for a comment as he was reportedly out of the country on official duties.
Disaster minister Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere could also not be reached by press time.
Currently, Karamoja region with over one million people takes the largest relief food aid from the World Food Programme.
The organisation also assists nearly 100,000 vulnerable people in the internally displaced persons’ camps in addition to over 100,000 refuges in West-Nile and the southwest region.
Famine has also been reported in Arua district due to exportation of food items to Southern Sudan.
The Area MP last week said the residents in the area sold their food to traders from gardens.
FOOD shortage has hit the Teso sub-region and other parts of eastern and northern Uganda, the area MPs have said.
The chairman of the Teso Parliamentary Group, Patrick Amuriat (FDC), told a press conference at Parliament yesterday that the shortage was as a result of prolonged drought.
Amuriat with other MPs from Pallisa and Kaberamaido explained that after the 2007 floods, which hit the region, Teso experienced a drought for eight months.
“For about a year, there has been no rain in Teso and we have no hope that we shall have enough rain soon to enable our people plant food,†he said
Amuriat said the population in the affected areas had resorted to eating wild leaves, ants and mangoes, which were also running out.
He identified Amuria, Pallisa, Kaberamaido, Bukedea, Katakwi and Soroti as the most hit districts.
Louis Opange (Independent) called on the Government to provide food aid to the people before deaths are registered.
He appealed to the Government to introduce food stores at every sub-county in the affected areas to solve the crisis.
Opange accused state minister for disaster preparedness Musa Ecweru of selective distribution of food items to gain political support.
He alleged that Ecweru distributes food only in his constituency (Amuria) on the grounds that others were oppositional.
The members demanded that the sh24b, which was released as an emergency fund in 2007 during the Teso floods, be diverted to procure food.
“Money was released but no accountability has ever been submitted,†Opange said.
Ecweru could not be reached for a comment as he was reportedly out of the country on official duties.
Disaster minister Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere could also not be reached by press time.
Currently, Karamoja region with over one million people takes the largest relief food aid from the World Food Programme.
The organisation also assists nearly 100,000 vulnerable people in the internally displaced persons’ camps in addition to over 100,000 refuges in West-Nile and the southwest region.
Famine has also been reported in Arua district due to exportation of food items to Southern Sudan.
The Area MP last week said the residents in the area sold their food to traders from gardens.