{UAH} 46 dead as hunger pounds Karamoja, Teso

It is very sad to read about people starving to death in the "Pearl of Africa" given all the fertile land and abundant rainfall we enjoy as a country compared to many countries in the world!

I do farming as my pass time activity in nearly 50 acres of land located in Serere which is one of the districts mentioned in this article. At the start of the rain season in March this year, I planted 20 acres of maize, 2 of ground nuts and nearly 3 of chillies, spending nearly 4 million on garden preparation, seeds and fertilizer (which I first introduced this year). However, even as we were still preparing the gardens and planting, heavy rains began pounding the area and some gardens began flooding, which affected crop germination. I lost nearly 12 acres of maize instantly. As soon as the maize grew and weeding began, the rains seized and all the chilies dried up while maize and ground nuts began to wither and this trend has continued since the rains have been erratic, so I am not expecting much harvest from my farm.

However, having travelled to many countries during my work assignments and seen other farming practices, there are a few lessons I have picked which I believe could be helpful to us as Ugandans. Many of us are very fast at blaming the government whenever our crops fail or when there is drought as seen in the comments above.
Although I agree that the government has a big role to play in the development
of infrastructure, providing the needed technical expertise and ensuring
availability of affordable farm inputs, we must understand that no government
can do everything for its citizens. It is important for us as individuals and
communities to take initiative to transform our lives instead of blaming the
government all the time. I will give one example very near home in a village
called Yatta in Ukambani, next door in Kenya (please Google Operation Mwolyo Out and you can read the stories for yourselves) where villagers who had lived on relief food for generations decided to take initiative to trap rain water and use it for irrigation. In less than four years since this initiative began, these village
has transformed itself and is now a learning center where many NGOs and other
agriculture experts are going to learn about community transformation. From
being dependent on relief food, these villagers are already food sufficient and
even exporting chilies to Europe. I personally visited that village about 8 months ago and can testify, having talked to the villagers, that it is possible to drive out poverty and food shortages out of our communities without government or even NGO assistance.

I am not an agricultural expert, but as a practicing farmer, I am taking a personal
initiative to educate farmers and encourage them to trap rain water to improve
their food safety. If you need to hear more about this, please contact me
directly and we can discuss more. Emma_opule@yahoo.ca

I can testify that it is possible to transform our villages and have improved livelihoods through community initiatives!

From: joseph ochieno <jop3upc@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com" <ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 11:07:17 AM
Subject: NRA {UAH} TWIST NOT THE LAW: Gen Elly Tumwine Petitions Parliament to Have Pius Bigirimaana Dropped Over OPM

NRA,

Twist of historical facts: The wave of banditry (terrorism) NRA started at Kabamba did not oust the Obote government. By 1985, NRA was on the run and Museveni officially on the run, in exile. Amplifying weather bitten men into artificial 'heroes'...

True, Obote was overthrown in a conspiracy involving NRA,DP, 3 capricious UPCmen using the Okellos. Ugandans, believe correctly.

Ochieno

=======

From: Gwokto La'Kitgum <lakitgum@gmail.com>
To: ugandans-at-heart <ugandans-at-heart@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 18 July 2013, 2:09
Subject: {UAH} TWIST NOT THE LAW: Gen Elly Tumwine Petitions Parliament to Have Pius Bigirimaana Dropped Over OPM

TWIST NOT THE LAW: Gen Elly Tumwine Petitions Parliament to Have Pius Bigirimaana Dropped Over OPM Lost Shs50Bn Dime, Saying His Deployment In the Gender Ministry Only Serves To Make A Mockery of Justice

By Team Investigator 17th, July 2013

DROP THIS MAN: Gen. Tumwine (R) wants Bigirimaana fired and tried

Gen Elly Tumwine, the first NRA rebel to shoot a bullet at Kabamba barracks that signalled the beginning of the war that ousted Obote and one of the topmost UPDF officials, has  petitioned Parliament demanding that Gender Ministry PS Pius Bigirimaana be dropped over Ushs50bn that got 'missing' under his nose at the Office of the Prime Minister.

The highly regarded Tumwine, who even lost his eye in the war, has been joined by Bunyole MP Emmanuel Dombo to demand that Bigirimaana steps down to pave way for investigations into his possible criminality as the former custodian of funds in the Office of the Prime Minister, we can reveal.

Sources in the know tell us that Tumwine and Dombo expressed their displeasure on the floor of the house yesterday, garnering tremendous support from both NRM and opposition MPs. The petitioners also want Health Ministry PS Asuman Lukwago and Internal Affairs PS Stephen Kagoda to be dropped pending investigations into claims that monies got missing under them.

Gen. Tumwine and Dombo join a long list of politicians, ministers, religious leaders, cultural leaders, donors and 'wanainchi,' questioning Bigirimaana's continued presence in government, after money that was entrusted to him as OPM PS, also the Chief Accounting Officer, got lost.

According to Tumwine, it does not make sense and is in fact a mockery of justice, for Bigirimaana to be recycled and given another job as Gender Ministry PS, before he could be tasked to explain how big sums of money got lost under his very eye. The General dismisses talk that Bigirimaana was the one who brought the scam to the attention of the Auditor General as escapist.

That the scam happened, Tumwine argues, is itself enough evidence to show Bigirimaana was lax in performing his oversight role as PS. For that negligence, Tumwine argues, Bigirimaana cannot escape culpability.

"What explanation can we give for hunting down another PS Asuman Lukwago ( Health Ministry) for money that got lost under him, yet we keep protecting others?," quips the General. Accordingly he wants all suspected criminals to be handled the Investigator style; without fear or favour.

Those calling that Bigirimaana face the law, argue that leaving him free leads to speculations of selective prosecution. This is in respect of his juniors such as Geoffrey Kazinda who are already serving time in Luzira for ostensibly losing the money.

Damage

Because of the OPM fraud, donors have since closed the dollar taps. This prompted government to "raid" the national treasury to sort out the donors. This would cause the already financially stressed taxpayer additional stress.

Two, a financially strapped government has had to make do with hiking taxes, to find the monies it needs to run the country in light of the withheld dollars. This has piled more strain on the already strained tax payer. With the taxes hiked, fuel dealers among others, will have to deflect the added taxes on the poor 'wanainchi' to stay afloat.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum