Government doing a lot more for Karamoja than it’s being credited for

Yesterday, opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP) donated relief food to the Karamoja Sub-region due to a food shortage going on in the region.
During the handover ceremony, the NUP leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, handed over the foodstuffs that include 2.5 tons of beans and 2.5 tons of maize flour to the leaders and also had a lot to say about the government not intervening to help the situation.

Mr. Kyagulanyi claimed government has not done a thing to help the situation forgetting. However government through the prime minister’s office sent 200 tons of food to Karamoja this week.

The Prime minister, Robinah Nabbanja confirmed the dispatch of the food to the region and also stated that shs135b will be released to address the food crisis in Karamoja.

Napakol Paul, the chairman for Itakwara village in Nakaperimoru Sub County confirmed receipt of food for his village and surrounding villages from the government.

“We are happy that government has come forward to help us with food donations. Now we have some food in the village and our neighbors in Lodere, Oyapwa and Kalobur also received the food so the situation is not so bad,” Napakol said.

Kyagulanyi blamed the government for the situation going on in Karamoja and one cannot help but wonder if it is ignorance or just malice.

It is clear that global warming among other factors are the reasons for this food shortage as an agricultural officer with the agricultural ministry stated.

“The low levels of production are attributed to harsh weather conditions and pests and disease (armyworm) that affected many districts. The yields for this season stand at about 20-40 percent for mainly food security crops,” the official stated.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), is doing a lot and has a strategic intervention that will be directed towards boosting the production of certain food security crops such as maize, beans, soybeans, sorghum, cassava and potatoes in the immediate and short term. The seasons will be in August 2022 and March 2023 respectively.

The government is financing the purchase of farm inputs and machinery to bolster production in the farming season starting next month and is using the PDM program to help small and medium scale farmers by providing seeds and resources.

In the meantime, while implementation of these programs is ongoing, government is providing relief in terms of large sums of food, seeds and financial help to the people of Karamoja.

Kyagulanyi used a sad situation to take advantage of starving people for cheap popularity on his down ward spiral in politics and as Ugandans we should shun him.  

If Kyagulanyi is the leader he wants people to believe he is, he should have foregone buying expensive pieces of land to build lavish houses and added to the donations.

Kyagulanyi didn’t use his personal money to buy the relief food, the donations came from local and international donors but he takes credit for everything because of the love of the limelight.

In June 2022, President Museveni went to Karamoja and camped there for several days while consulting with the locals and listening to their issues.

Kyagulanyi spends on expensive lavish trips for him and his family, spends IPOD money with his friends but as a leader who claims he cares so much about the people, he should have been on ground instead of on vacation.

Kyagulanyi is a failed leader both at constituency and national levels who knows his time is up and is grasping at straws.