TESO HUNGER A PUNISHMENT

[Yoweri Museveni]

TESO HUNGER A PUNISHMENT

Three decades ago, Iteso submitted to a militant NRA and my tribesmen lastly said welcome! After a hug of guns (1989-1992). This same regime that our parents accepted to rub shoulders with promised better tomorrow to the semi-nomads who for long had been cattle keepers & farmers. Mind you the reason for the great trek from Ethiopia to Uganda was to enjoy the waters of the Nile and its tributaries.
On arrival, Iteso didn’t have a backup plan of a life without animals but this was involuntary. On ascertain quiet morning,a our parents woke up and realized that the government that had 10 point programme including that of protecting citizens and their property.the leaders then,failed to secure our inherent livestock from daylight robbery.
Now that the herds left for karamoja and to other places we know not. Our people accepted the economics of starting from zero (akoru akanin) using the local hand hoes, you can phrase this simply (from grace to grass). This fine government couldn’t plan better on the future of Iteso after riches? As the trees gave way to charcoal and timber needs of the Middle class.The new found agriculturalists filled Kampala food stores with groundnuts, sweet potatoes, cassava & a few sacks of rice. The planners in the ministry of agriculture, ministry of finance & economics planning cared less to the soils. All they wanted from Teso was grow more food, more cotton but no plan for the future..
Affected by the weather vagaries due to natural and human factors, it’s approximately 10 years since the floods hit Teso land after a long drought of early 2007. The same government planners left the work of planning and only with wish that the ministry of disaster comes to do the kind of work that fire brigade does? to arrive after the damage! Remember the mighty peaceful government has had a long term plan on paper and board rooms for irrigation but all this plans have stayed there.
We need irrigation, irrigate our land and let the abuses and insults stop there that we are weak and always sloshed, if its so count the number of days in a year the government aid feeds the entire Teso populace. If this is not a punishment, then its Alie of lies .when the government has no plan for its citizens then its planning to fail. We can munch & chew our termites, it doesn’t need aTV telecast show! we can die.The truth is the story will remain align in our minds because amazingly not all Iteso are hunger stricken (ejaa lupo ejarete)
EMURIA KOLIAI