The government on Sunday announced an invasion of the much dreaded Desert Locusts in the Karamoja sub-region consisting of Amudat, Nabilatuk, and Nakapiripirit, some.
John Martin Owor, the commissioner in the Department of Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Management of the Uganda Office of the Prime Minister, said the locusts entered Uganda via northwest Pokot district in Kenya, where they had destroyed hundreds of acres of vegetation and have started destroying vegetation in Uganda.
Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda who called an emergency meeting yesterday with technocrats to forge a way forward confirmed that Uganda is prepared. He also called for concerted efforts from all Ugandans if are to be fought off.
Dr. Rugunda says the government has already released a total sum of 11 billion Uganda Shillings, as a country’s contribution towards Desert Locust Control Organisation for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA).
Desert Locust Control Organisation is a regional organization for integrated pest and vector management that ensures food security in Eastern Africa Region. Uganda is among the nine countries that form the body that including; Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and Djibouti.
Dr. Rugunda says the invasion is coming to destabilize food security, economy, and families.
State Minister for Agriculture Aggrey Bagiire notes that response teams were immediately dispatched to the region upon receiving reports that the locusts had entered the country on Sunday afternoon.
Bagiire notes that the Agriculture Ministry has already prepared both manual and automatic pumps, chemicals for spraying to be dispatched on Monday to Karamoja.
