Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem, is under fire for controversial remarks regarding the more than 2,200 people who succumbed to hunger-related illnesses in north-east Uganda in 2022.
Oryem sparked outrage when he dismissed the victims as “idiots” during an interview with NTV Uganda.
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In response to the dire situation outlined in a report by the Uganda Human Rights Commission, which revealed that over 2,200 people had died of starvation and nearly half a million were in “acute hunger,” Oryem asserted that individuals should be able to grow their own food given Uganda’s favorable climate and fertile land.
“It’s only an idiot, a real idiot, that can die of hunger in Uganda,” stated Oryem, defending his position.
He emphasized the need for hard work, claiming that with available land and a suitable climate, individuals could avoid starvation by diligently tending to their crops.
Critics, including Moses Aleper, a legislator from the affected Karamoja region, denounced Oryem’s comments as tone-deaf and out of touch with the realities on the ground.
Aleper argued that factors beyond human control, such as changing weather patterns, often contribute to hunger in the region, despite its agricultural potential.
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Charles Onyango-Obbo, a prominent Ugandan author and journalist, weighed in, stating that the minister failed to grasp that hunger in Uganda is more of a distribution and market problem than a result of individual laziness.
While official data on the current food situation in Karamoja is unavailable, the region historically faces food shortages during dry seasons due to its semi-arid climatic conditions.
