Minister of State for Karamoja Affairs and Bududa District MP, Agnes Nandutu has mocked the National Unity Platform’s gesture to donate food items to the Karamoja region saying it was to seek cheap popularity.
“The government does things systematically. By the time NUP sent food, there was already food in Karamoja. NUP can’t even do 0.00% of what we did in Karamoja,” she said.
In July, NUP donated 2500kgs of maize flour (Posho) and 2500kgs of beans to Karamoja after Napak Woman MP Faith Nakut raised an alarm saying her people were dying of hunger.
Speaking during an interview on NBS last evening, Nandutu claimed that the number of people who have died of hunger in the region has been exaggerated on social media.
“Some people are killed by diseases, and others by cattle rustling. A few have been taken by the famine but not in the exaggerated way the media portrays it,” said Nandutu.
Several people in Karamoja were reported to have died due to hunger. Reports indicated that 100 people were starving to death on a daily.
In response, the government allocated Shs135 billion to provide food to the people of Karamoja for the next three months. Nonetheless, a section of MPs from the region last week claimed that the relief had not reached some areas.
However, Nandutu claimed that there is no longer a crisis in Karamoja.
“We are now in charge. We have a strategic plan to ensure that there is food security in the region,” the minister said.
She added, “Relief is a short-term remedy being given to the people of Karamoja because we want to prevent deaths.
There are nine districts in Karamoja, and these districts have a lot of people. We can’t take care of these people based on relief alone.”