Acholi MPs castigate OPM over delays in emergency response

GULU– Members of Parliament from Acholi Sub-region under the umbrella of Acholi Parliamentary Group [APG] have lashed out at the Office of the Prime Minister [ OPM ] for being slow in responding to emergency cases in the Apaa area where there is an ongoing land conflict between the Madhi and Acholi communities.

One month after the district disaster committee and the Chief Administrative Officer-Amuru wrote a report backed by MP Anthony Akol of Kilak North on the need for the fast delivery of relief items, no related support in form of food, iron sheets, medicines and others, has been sent to Apaa area, following the recent attacks which left farms and residential houses destroyed.

Three weeks ago, a heavy hailstorm destroyed 1998 acres of crops including soybeans, maize, and groundnuts, as well as killed two cows and 10 goats in Adilang Subcounty and Town Council. These are among several other cases of disasters that are yet to be responded to by OPM.

David Lagen, the Agago County Member of Parliament said nothing has been delivered to the victims of the hailstorms which have left 382 households homeless, and without food among other basic human rights necessities.

According to Lagen, there`s need for OPM to attend to emergencies, saying people are losing lives due to the delay by officials from OPM to respond to the effects of disasters.

Anthony Akol, the Kilak North Member of Parliament, also the Chairperson of APG wants Parliament to act on errant officers who delay responding to emergencies in the community.

“We need these errant officials brought to book for their delays in responding to emergencies in the community. We can`t be following bureaucracies when people are starving to death, sleeping in the cold, leaving alone the suffering mothers and their children,” Akol said.

According to Akol, the MPs are now demanding that besides providing relief to the disaster-hit areas in the region, OPM provides seeds and seedlings to the affected farmers for recovery and sustainability purposes.

Robinah Nabanja, the Prime Minister while responding to similar concerns on the floor of parliament recently said that emergencies have always been treated as emergencies. Promising to investigate the delays, Nabanja said that the government is committed to saving the lives of Ugandans.

https://thecooperator.news/museveni-to-meet-acholi-mps-over-apaa-land-conflict/

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