President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) not to rely on the suppliers that the OPM has procured, to supply relief items to the people of Karamoja.
According to the Minister of State for Northern Uganda under the OPM, Hon Beatrice Akello Akori, Mr Museveni directed that the exercise be handled by the UPDF and Prisons with a good amount of food to ensure the smooth running of the exercise.
“I want to thank the President for his wise guidance. This time we are not using contractors like…… He argued that we should not rely on the suppliers that OPM has procured. We should rely on the UPDF and the prisons who have at least some good amount of food with them. So OPM has signed a memorandum of understanding that NEC and NEC are the ones supplying this food.” She said
Hon Akori made the remarks at the inauguration of the new president of the Lions Club of Rubirizi, in district last week.
“As Minister of Northern Uganda and OPM our work is only to monitor the delivery of this food until it reaches the local government. Then the local government will take over from there. And we told them this food needs to go directly to sub-county headquarters to avoid delays and to avoid mishandling of this food item. I am optimistic that this food will reach the intended beneficiaries” she said.
Ms. Akori said the OPM will continue with the supervisory mandate during this exercise and pledged for continued Political and community mobilization for development of the people of Karamoja through the four acre model so that they transform their livelihood and get out of poverty.
Karamoja Sub region is currently experiencing the worst ever prolonged drought in Northern Uganda, with the rains last received in around the first week of May.
The dependence of this sub region on seasonal crops, left all the crops including maize they had planted at early May, completely dried off leading to famine.
According to Minister Akori, the government through Operation Wealth (OWC) has secured some seeds to be supplied to them before the end of this month, July, so that the first drop of rain around August, people will be ready with the planting materials and they plant immediately.
On Monday, Government launched an emergency food relief intervention for the Karamoja sub-region, to support communities affected by the prolonged dry spell that has disrupted agricultural production, depleted household food stocks, and increased the risk of food insecurity.
While flagging off the emergency food relief at the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) head offices in Bugolobi, Prime Minister Rt. Hon Robinah Nabbanja, said Government will deliver 9,419,610 kilograms of relief food, comprising maize flour and dry beans, to 313,987 households across 480 parishes in the nine districts of the Karamoja sub-region.
During the handover ceremony of the new Lions Club home in Rubirizi, Lion Vincent B. Tumusiime was inaugurated as the second president with the enrolment of over 68 members.
Speaking at the handover, the outgoing president Lion Kwesiga Rosbell Tumusime outlined some of the achievements in the past one year.
“We’ve been able to pay our dues on time, the discipline in the club is very good and more members actually, even those I would say they call them from abroad, are willing to be part of us,” She said
She added that, “We have done a lot of service activities in the community, we have served under cancer, diabetes, environment, we have given food to the hungry and we have treated the sick, so we have achieved a lot,” She added
Mr. Vincent B Tumusiime, the newly inaugurated president of the Club promised to offer a service beyond self.
“So our vision moving forward, as we step into this new Lionistic year, our core focus will be centred on expanding our outreach and where possible, sponsor a Lions club in Katerera” he said.
He added that, “I would also in my Lionistic year, intend to establish a platform in Kampala where members of the club that reside in Kampala can always converge at least once a month and promote the agenda of our local club, which I’m going to call the Lions club of Rubirizi Kampala chapter”.
#Karamoja @UgandanGov ,@ubctvuganda
Inclusivity is not charity,No region should remain poor while the wealth beneath its soil enriches the nation,equal citizenship demands equal opportunity, equitable investment, and policies that leave no community behind.
While emergency food assistance remains essential to Karamoja during periods of crisis, the Government should place greater emphasis on preventing drought-related hunger rather than responding only after communities have been affected ,so far 200 people confirmed dead .
Investing in irrigation, water harvesting and storage, drought-resilient agriculture, livestock support, rangeland restoration, early warning systems, and climate adaptation measures can reduce the impact of future droughts in karamoja
Why are karamojongs treated like refugees in Uganda 🇺🇬? We deserve equal citizen rights, service and resources distributions .
A proactive approach that strengthens resilience will save lives, protect livelihoods, and reduce the long-term cost of repeated humanitarian interventions.