Finance releases Shs20b for Karamoja

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja presents a statement about the floods that killed people and destroyed property in Mbale to MPs on August 2, 2022. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA 

What you need to know:

  • Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja announced the  developments while appearing before Parliament yesterday

The government has so far released Shs20b out of the Shs135b from contingency fund to support the relief efforts in Karamoja Sub-region and other disaster-affected areas. It also released 8,047 tonnes of maize flour and 1,281 tonnes of beans  for the same effort.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja announced the  developments while appearing before Parliament yesterday.

Government in July allocated Shs135b to respond to the famine crisis in Karamoja after hundreds of locals died of starvation.

Ms Nabbanja said all efforts were being made to ensure that the crisis is handled.

“The government allocated Shs135b and the Ministry of Finance, has so far released Shs20b from the contingency fund to cater for Karamoja and other disaster affected areas,” she said.

It is not clear why the Finance ministry has failed to release more funds to respond to the emergency.

Officials from the Finance ministry were not available to explain why the ministry had only released Shs20b.

Mr Matia Kasaija, the Finance minister, Mr Ramadhan Ggoobi, the Secretary to the Treasury, and Mr Apollo Benon Munghinda, the ministry’s principal communications officer,  did not respond to both our repeated calls and text messages.

However, Mr Kasaija last week told legislators on the Committee of Finance that the economy was limping.

He said the government is overwhelmed and the remaining funds cannot sustain the national economy.

Ms Nabbanja yesterday also said the district disaster committees in the affected areas identified the most vulnerable people who received the first batch of the consignments.

“These people were identified by the district technical teams during the needs assessment. I also dispatched relief food to the most vulnerable population in February and again in June. The relief food items were handed over to the chief administrative officers who are the accounting officers in the districts,” she said.

Ms Nabbanja added that the food distributed is safe for human consumption because it has been thoroughly checked.

“The food supplied by the Office of Prime Minister (OPM) is subjected to quality assurance by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. A certificate is then issued and delivered to the OPM stores for delivery of supplies,” she said.