Zombo disaster victims receive relief items from OPM   after seven months wait

By Mike Rwothomio

The office of the Prime minister, on Thursday January 16, 2025 donated relief items that includes 20, 000 kilograms of  Posho,  and 10, 000 Kilograms of  beans, to the severely  affected community of Abanga Sub-County, Zombo district.

The relief items is part of the government’s  effort   to alleviate the month-long  suffering of the victims from 1,355 households from the two Parishes of Pakadha and Serr, hard-hit by the unprecedented  devastating hailstorm and pounding rain in July last year.

The July 8, 2024 driving afternoon rain decimated crops such as beans, coffee, maize, cassava, and matooke, along with kitchen garden plants, plunging  the rural farmers  into a state of distress with the looming threat of famine.

Grace Atim, the Zombo Deputy Resident District Commissioner,  upon launching the distribution exercise at Abanga Sub-County headquarters,  lauded government for the intervention ,  saying ” as Zombo district and disaster management committee, we wrote to the office of the OPM and other partners to come and support our people after the disaster, today we are very happy to distribute 20,000 Kilograms of  Posho and 10,000 Kilograms of beans for the affected persons”

 Atim called for effective utilization of the relief items, saying each household will respectively  receive 10 kg of Posho and 5kg of beans.

Gabriel Okumu, the MP for Okoro County, facilitated the transportation of the relief items from Zombo district headquarters to Abanga Sub-County, and through his campaign manager Tito Ocamringa,   pledged more commitment of helping the community.

Richard Awekunimungu, the  LCIII Chairperson of Abanga Sub-County ,  clarifies  that the items  is only for the affected persons from 1,355 households , carefully selected from  two Parishes of Serr and Pakadha.

Area residents Roseline Ocida and Kiturac Mary, all from Upanu village ,  commended government for the intervention, recounting how they lost their items that they valued at millions  to the destruction.

The  recent devastation  has renewed calls from locals and leaders for an increased budget for the disaster management committee, given the uptick in disaster occurrences in the area.

The most affected villages amongst others  included  Pakadha Trading Center, Alengu, Malara, Uduk, Odarlembe, Gira, Alicudu, and Nyoka.

Similarly in 2024, devastating rains with hailstorms also left a trail of destruction in Zeu and Alangi sub-counties, decimating food crops and de-roofing permanent and semi-permanent structures.

This recent destruction has renewed calls from locals and leaders for an increased budget for the disaster management committee, given the uptick in disaster occurrences in the area.

However, many environmental experts in the region say human activities, particularly deforestation, are exacerbating the devastating impacts of climate change.