Prepare for El Niño rains, Govt advises Ugandans

By Ismael Kasooha

KAMPALA

The Government has urged Ugandans to prepare for El Niño rains expected in the country between September and December.

Addressing the media recently, the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Mr Alex Kakooza, said the rains may trigger a range of hazards and impacts, including severe storms, landslides, waterlogging and disease outbreaks across the country.

“We have developed an El Niño contingency and response plan, which will guide our efforts, and it will be presented to Cabinet soon,” Kakooza said.

Kakooza said the Ministry had developed and disseminated early warning information in English and local languages.

“We encourage Ugandans to heed the early warning messages and vacate high-risk areas when advised,” he added. “The high-risk areas include flood-prone lowlands, urban centres with poor drainage, river catchments, wetlands and mountainous regions.”

Cattle restocking

The Permanent Secretary said the cattle restocking programme is progressing well in the Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions. The programme targets areas where past conflicts resulted in the loss of cattle.

“Last financial year, we got Shs 80 billion for the programme, and we have nearly disbursed all the money to the beneficiaries,” he said. “We have received Shs 100 billion for the same programme this financial year.”

Under the programme, the Government is providing Shs 5 million to each household in the three sub-regions to purchase bulls and heifers.

Food distribution in Karamoja

The OPM also said it had completed the distribution of more than 9.4 million kilogrammes of emergency relief food to 480 parishes in the Karamoja sub-region.

On July 20, the Government launched the distribution of food relief to families experiencing food shortages in Karamoja due to a prolonged dry spell.

“We have delivered food relief to more than 300,000 households across nine districts in Karamoja,” Kakooza revealed.

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