By Our Reporter
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Henry Okello Oryem, has been chastised by the public for referring to those who have died from starvation as “idiots.”
In 2022, over 2,200 individuals in north-east Uganda died from hunger-related diseases, according to a study by an official human rights body (BBC).
The Uganda Human Rights Commission reported that a famine in the country’s northeastern region had caused “acute hunger” for about 500,000 people, in addition to food-related deaths.
Oryem said that Uganda’s favorable climate and fertile soil make food cultivation unnecessary. In an interview with NTV Uganda, the minister stated that only “idiots” could die from hunger in Uganda.
In his statement, Oryem asserted, “Those people dying of hunger in Uganda are idiots because there is enough food, land, and the right climate.”
“If you work hard, you can find land in Uganda. Despite climatic change, the climate remains stable. If you make an extra effort to go out in the morning, work your land, plant seeds, and maintain your plantation, how can you fail to acquire food?”
Oryem has faced criticism for his views. Moses Aleper, a Chekwii County politician, is among many who have criticized the minister for what he has said. That area is located in the famine-affected region.
Aleper stated to the BBC that Oryem’s views were “not right” and “unfortunate coming from a minister who knows what goes on in this country.”
“I’m from one of Karamoja’s most productive areas, where there is enough rain to produce food. However, when the weather fails us or the weather vagaries start in, we will undoubtedly fail to get food. And they usually experience starvation and eventually hunger strikes,” he stated.
Aleper went on to say that hunger in the area is typically caused by “other issues beyond even human control.”
He cited climate change as an example of such issues. The climate of the Karamoja region is described as semi-arid. The dry season typically worsens the area’s food crises and hunger.
According to Charles Onyango-Obbo, a well-known Ugandan novelist and journalist, the minister failed to see that hunger in Uganda is primarily a distribution/market issue.
