Famine looms in Masaka as animals destroy crops Zurah Nakabugo Kampala
As people grapple with famine in different parts of the country, residents in the areas of Kawoko, Mutukula, Kibaale and Kyazanga villages in Masaka District, are battling with a soldier’s cattle, which they say have destroyed their crops. The residents, who use only hands and machetes to squeeze food from the stingy soil around their villages, are said to have suffered with the cows for the last 10 years, leaving many children and adults starving. According to the residents, Maj. Noe Nuwamanya prefers people to migrate from their own land so that his unfenced cattle can have enough food and space to feed and live on respectively. “We no longer have food to eat and feed our children,” Mr Charles Kagu, one of the residents from Kawoko said, adding: “All our food has been destroyed by the soldier’s cows and when we try to contact him, he says he can’t fence his cows.” Residents say the over 1,000 head of cattle move through the four villages, daily and feed on people’s crops. The angry residents also claim the Major has threatened to bring more cattle so that they vacate the area. The local leaders have contacted the Major for possible solutions over people’s food and the land that has been occupied by his cattle but nothing has been done. “We are now competing with cows to get water from the wells and the Major’s soldiers who guard the cattle don’t allow us to fetch water before their cows drink,” Godfrey Asimwe, another resident of Kawoko said. “In case you need water urgently from the wells, you have to pay the soldiers to be allowed to fetch the water. If you insist and try to get it by force, they can beat you up,” he added. The residents said these soldiers who work as the Major’s cattle keepers sometimes beat and threaten to kill them for chasing the cattle from their land. “We want Maj. Nuwamanya to give us food because his cows have eaten all our crops and our children are almost dying because they have nothing to eat,” Mr Asimwe said. According to the UN report now, sub-Saharan Africa is staggering toward its worst food crisis in decades, with as many as 38 million people threatened with starvation in the coming months. The angry residents warned that, if Maj. Nuwamanya fails to provide them with food and also fails to fence his cattle into one firm, they will sue him. When Saturday Monitor contacted Maj. Nuwamanya for a comment, he switched off his phone. The government recently responded to the famine in Teso region by providing Shs10 billion for relief food and other necessities.
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