The United Nations should just declare Uganda a failed state and urge for the government of dictator Museveni to resign. How could a country with its own food supply allow such a catastrophy to befall its citizens???? Its own citizens; and all in the name of Clintons's New African Leadership! That was a bad joke Mr. Bill Clinton. Your begotten African leader failed.
Bwambuga. Lutimba Matovu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >To Go Hungry, or Seek Food and Get Abducted: > >By Nabusayi L. Wamboka > >800,000 people threatened in the �worst humanitarian >crisis in the history of northern Uganda� > >A hungry man is an angry man? Maybe not; he could be >just a dead man. And soon the country will wake up to >find over 800,000 of its people starved to death in >what the World Food Programme describes as the worst >humanitarian crisis in the history of northern Uganda. > >In northern Uganda now, they are not merely under the >threat of the ruthless Joseph Kony�s Lord�s Resistance >Army, but if they are alive, chow could be the hardest >thing to come by. >Benson Opiyo, a 16-year-old boy, was abducted by the >LRA two years ago together with his four brothers and >their father while they where out searching for food >�I was severely beaten. One of my brothers tried to >escape but they caught him and killed him. They also >killed my father. You cannot be afraid in the bush. I >saw a girl in the bush who was afraid. The [rebel] >soldiers brought a dead body and told her to smear the >blood from the body all over her own body to prevent >her from being afraid of dead things,� Opiyo said. > >The desperate search for food by the displaced people >in northern Uganda results into 20 abductions daily, >according to Fred Olaa, the WFP Programme Officer in >the region. He said it is extremely dangerous for >people to venture outside the camps in search of food. >The displaced populations from the districts of Gulu, >Kitgum and Pader have been driven from their villages >and are now living in 60 densely populated improvised >camps, where the living conditions are very poor. Even >here, they continue to be terrorised by LRA rebels and >are regularly victims of brutal attacks. > >WFP estimates that 70 percent of the local population >in the three districts has been displaced as a result >of the prevailing insecurity. �This is the worst >humanitarian crisis since the fighting began in >northern Uganda more than fifteen years ago. We had >expected things to improve in 2002, but instead the >numbers have continued to increase and the displaced >people have lost both the last two harvests due to >insecurity,� said Ken Noah Davies, the WFP Country >Director. > >According to Davies, the agency requires 108,000 tons >of food commodities valued at US$ 59 million to feed >over 800,000 IDPs and 150,000 refugees from January to >June 2003. Currently, the country office is facing a >pipeline shortfall of 87,329 tons of food commodities >from January to July. �People are living like animals. >They don�t have a life � they simply exist. They do >not have the bare minimum even to buy clothes. The >situation is very bad. If we stop providing people >with food, they will die,� Charles Uma, chairman of >the Gulu District Disaster Management Committee said. > >This may be beyond the means of WFP as it is facing >serious funding problems. In October last year, WFP >was forced to reduce the food rations to 70 percent of >the daily food requirements of IDPs. As of January >this year, the agency was forced to completely suspend >distribution of cereals to IDPs in northern Uganda and >to reduce cereal rations for refugees by 50 percent >due to the serious cereal pipeline shortfall. �Uganda >has the potential for local procurement of cereals and >pulses at competitive prices if cash resources are >pledged by donors. Donors are urgently requested to >pledge resources to meet the urgent resource >requirements and to prevent hunger and serious >malnutrition among IDPs and refugees,� Davies said. > >WFP is the only humanitarian agency supplying food in >Northern Uganda. Last year it was forced to suspend >food distribution to IDPs from June 19 to July 15. >This coupled with displacements; general disruption of >economic activity and lack of access to fields >constrained the food acquisition strategies of IDPs. > >Davies said government last year contributed Shs 600 >million to avert the crisis through the office of the >prime minister to help communities that are not >largely accessed by WFP and that it had pledged >another 400 million for the first quarter of 2003. >�Donors would like to see a greater contribution of >government. This will go a long way to convince the >donors that it is committed to this cause,� Edward >Kallon, the WFP deputy country director said. > >According to Davies, only money talks and it is the >only way the food will get faster to those who need it >most. �Uganda has a surplus of food but it is not >free. We need cash to get it and that is where as WFP >we come in. We have been going around the country >buying from farmers and sometimes working with farmers >associations. The only problem is that farmers >associations are not very organised,� he said. >Currently WFP is the biggest buyer of locally grown >food. > >While many people are all praying for the guns in >northern Uganda to fall silent, the hunger that >threatens to wipe out victims of Kony war may be worse >than the war itself. > > > > >January 28, 2003 03:16:49 > >__________________________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. >http://mailplus.yahoo.com > -- He it is Who created for you all that is on earth...He is the All-knower of everything. Swaddaq Allahu Al-Adhim. The United Nations: described the conflict as the worst in the violent history of northern Uganda. Michael Bwambuga. __________________________________________________________________ The NEW Netscape 7.0 browser is now available. Upgrade now! http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/
