Church of Uganda in partnership with ACT Alliance, has kicked off relief food distribution in Kotido and Kaabong districts, which form part of the North Karamoja Diocese.
Rt Rev Joseph Abura, the Bishop of Karamoja Diocese, who doubles as the Dean of the Province of Church of Uganda flagged off the distribution of 50 tons of posho, 18 tons of beans, silverfish, and salt on Tuesday in the presence of Rt. Rev James Nasak, the Bishop of North Karamoja, members of ACT Alliance, local leaders, and the Diocesan leadership at the Diocesan office in Kotido.
Bishop Abura commended the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu for championing the mobilization of resources for purchasing the relief food items. He explained that the relief food came as a result of the wide voice of the Church of Uganda Archbishop to the people of Uganda and partners when they realized the plight of the people of Karamoja.
“We have the other food, which was contributed by the Dioceses of Church of Uganda through Retired Bishop Johnson Gakumba whom the Archbishop requested to stand in for him. This food has also arrived. It includes 40 tons of maize flour to Karamoja Diocese in Moroto and 40 tons of food and other items in Kotido,” he said.
Bishop James Nasak of North Karamoja Diocese commended ACT Alliance for responding to the hunger crisis in the region, saying it’s a huge relief to the people of Karamoja. Nasak said the arrival of the food aid will relieve the people who have suffered from hunger and help to settle the rising number of street children due to starvation
‘’We lost people to hunger in big numbers. The report from Kotido District indicates that 1680 people died of hunger. During our pastoral work to the manyattas, we find children so malnourished, people very hungry, very thin and others dying in their houses and compounds,” Bishop Nasak said.
Nasak also observed that in Kotido Municipality, there are a lot of street children, which is fueling crime because the children have resorted to the theft of food and money for survival.
Rev. Andrew Agaba, the Director of Household and Community Transformation (HCT), says that the response came as a result of the bad news about Karamoja, which compelled the Directorate under the Archbishop’s stewardship to make an appeal to ACT Alliance for Rapid Response Funds, which they fulfilled with USD 100,000.
Agaba further said Kotido and Kaabong were selected because they are at the extreme end of Karamoja and are normally left out in many response programs. He said the relief items will go to 2000 households and will target the elderly and child-headed families, malnourished children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and people with special needs including those living with HIV and Tuberculosis, and women.
According to Rev. Agaba, each household will receive 25kgs of maize flour, 8kgs of beans, 1kg of salt, and 3 kg of silverfish only for households with malnourished children.
The beneficiary sub-counties include; Nampupum, Lokwakiar, and Loletia in Kotido District and Kaboong East and Kaabong West, Loyoro and Lodiko sub-counties in Kaboong District.
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