John Longolio, the Town Clerk of the Nabilatuk Town Council in the Karamoja region has reported that the number of people that have died of hunger in the district has reached 226, yet the hope for food has been deemed.
Longolio in a statement to the District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) lamented that there is no hope for food, calling upon donors to help in averting the situation.
According to Longolio, at least 15 people have died in Natopojo ward, 31 in Lolet, 78 in Arengesiep, 61 in the central ward and 41 in Naupala ward ever since the famine struck.
While appearing on NBS TV this week, the state minister for Karamoja, Agness Nandutu scoffed at the National Unity Platform(NUP), saying the party’s initiative to donate food relief to the starving people of Karamoja was just for cheap popularity.
She explained that the government does things systematically, adding that by the time NUP sent food relief in the region, there was already food in Karamoja.
“NUP can’t even do 0.00% of what we did in Karamoja. There is no longer a crisis in Karamoja because we are now in charge. We have a strategic plan to ensure that there is food security in the region,” she said during the NBS Face Off show on Sunday evening.
Nandutu said that at the moment families in Karamoja have gotten enough food and the relief given to them is a short-term remedy which was aimed at preventing death.
Nandutu said that the reports of deaths in Karamoja have been exaggerated, saying they have been on the ground and the number of people who have died of hunger in the region is not big. She however did not reveal the figures.
