Sixteen Karamojong women and children from Panyangara Sub County in Jie County Kotido district have fled to Gulu City in search of food.
The Karimojong include four female adults (two breastfeeding mothers), ten children aged between eight and 10 years, and two breastfeeding babies.
They arrived in Gulu City on Thursday evening last week and pitched camp along Ring Road in front of Cereleno Market in Pece-Laroo division, drawing the attention. Onlookers and vendors from Cereleno market offered the vvividly starved Karimojong food.
Officials and leaders of Cereleno Market and Tegwana Parish alerted the Gulu City security team about the presence of the Karamojong.
John Bosco Olak, the Northern Regional Presidential Coordinator was one of those who rushed to the scene.
Through, Moses Lochum Pisto, a Karamojong student at Gulu University, the new arrivals in Gulu city said they fled their home district in search of food noting that they had spent days on empty stomachs.
They further revealed that they’d mobilized resources and boarded a Gulu bound pick-up at a cost of Shillings 20,000 per adult.
Denis Odongpiny Odwong, the Gulu Resident City Commissioner said that authorities are mobilizing food and shelter for the people as they coordinate to return them back to their district.
Kotido district in North Eastern Uganda is located approximately 300 kilometres away from Gulu City. It’s one of the districts greatly affected by famine due to the semi-arid weather condition, lack of water, and insecurity posed by cattle rustlers.
