Acholi set to seek independence from Uganda
By Nkonge I Kaggwa <http://www.thelondoneveningpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kitgum-Distr ict-Woman-MP-Beatrice-Atim-Anywar.jpg> Kitgum District Woman MP Beatrice Anywar Atim: We can no longer accept to be second class citizens of the country. Just a year after celebrations to mark the countrys 50 years of independence from Great Britain, legislators from the Acholi parliamentary group have re-embarked on their mission to have Northern parts of the country become independent from the main republic of Uganda on grounds of being marginalized. They should let us create our own country. We are fed up. Some people think this country belongs to them only, the legislators said. Addressing a press conference in Kampala Tuesday, members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) said they are fade up with being part of Uganda. The members who included the Kitgum woman Member of Parliament (MP) Beatrice Anywar Atim, Bernard Atiku and Kilak county MP Gilbert Olanya said: We can no longer accept to be second class citizens of the country. These people talk and promise a lot but dont deliver. The APG has often come out to demand for the creation of the Nile Republic claiming that they have faced lots of problems, especially during the past 20 years of insurgency, saying they can no longer catch up with the rest of the country. Uganda needs to be divided. If you come to the northern parts of the country, sincerely you will see for yourself that the northern part of Uganda is another country, very poor and much marginalized, Says Gilbert Olanya MP. The trio revealed that their dream to have the north as a separate country is in progress as they have started collecting signatures. If somebody thinks the idea is gone, they are mistaken. We have got two (2) professors from the United Kingdom making a study from the countries which have broken away so that we move on the APG claimed. The three legislators were showing their discontent over the delayed support by government to victims of the popularly known nodding syndrome. Over 7000 people in the districts of Kitgum, Gulu, Amoro and Pader are victims of this disease while over 200 have died in the Acholi sub region. Beatrice Anywar MP said the neglect of the victims of the nodding syndrome is leaving them with no option but to seek court redress. We are going to go to court and seek for direction because government has to answer why it is neglecting our people, she said. Anywar noted that the first victim of the nodding syndrome appeared in 1998 but government kept silence until recently when the disease generated into an epidemic, saying since they came out in public, the Centre for Disease Control based in Atlanta, Georgia, came out to investigate and gave a report to government which she claimed the government had deliberately denied he public to know. As leaders in the sub-region, we are not happy with the way government is behaving. We suspect the nodding disease could be effects of war which was in our areas for so long, Anyway said. She went on to say that since they raised an alarm in the public for assistance, they have received overwhelming support from scientists, academia and funders who wish to come for their rescue. She appealed to the government to declare the Acholi region a disaster area so that even other countries take interest in what is happening in the region. This is a very serious problem. I wonder what the World Health Organization is doing. This area must be declared a disaster area, the MP said. She added that if the funders come, the funds must be given direct to the beneficiaries. Anywar revealed that several doctors, especially from Canada and the United Kingdom are set to jet into the country to investigate the real problem because they keep on receiving conflicting information about the disease. Let also our sons of the land come and carry out research and rescue our people from death so we dont keep on wondering around. We have many in UK who can do that work she said. The London Evening Post has reliably received information that at list 30 new cases have been reported in Kitgum in a place known as Timangol, an area where isolation camps have been set up to carter specifically for the victims. This area is now being shunned as there are no funds to maintain them. Asked about the new cases, Anywar confirmed that the two cases were from Kampala, 11 from sub-counties in Kitgum while eight were grandchildren who were born after the victims of nodding disease were raped by greedy men. EM On the 49th Parallel Thé Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy" Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi "Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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