Rakai–Over six thousand refugees expelled by the Tanzanian government two years ago face severe hunger after government failed to deliver relief food.
The group holed up in Sango Bay Resettlement camp comprises of both Ugandan returnees and refugees, and they have been waiting for the relief items after the State Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru and other officials visited the camp last week on Thursday, and promised to deliver the food urgently.
Eagle Online visited the camp on Saturday May 9, 2015 and found nothing had been delivered from the Office of the Prime Minister, prompting the group to accuse the minister of not taking their plight into consideration.
Sango Bay camp is found in Kakuuto Sub-county, Rakai district and officials here say people might die because of lack of food.
Sergeant Ronald Kirunda, who is in charge of the camp’s general duties, said last received food supplies in February 2015.
The PM’s office is suppose to deliver 30,000 kilograms of maize flour and 10,000 kilograms of beans every month and each person is entitled to 6kgs of posho and 1kg of beans.
He further said that due to the persistent hunger in the camp, most of the returnees and refugees have resorted to seeking for labour in nearby villages to cater for their families.
For Camp Chairman Erias Byaruhanga it is the pregnant women and children who are most affected. He said over 600 children had abandoned school to look for labour and food.
This was reiterated by Dr. Moses Mudooba, the in charge of Kakuuto Health Centre IV, who said that children and the elderly are the most vulnerable, necessitating intervention.
He however, said the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) had pulled out, further complicating the situation.
“We were visiting the camp three times a week but that is not possible now,” Dr Mudooba revealed.
In August 2013, Tanzania expelled over six thousand people from Kagera region, accusing them of being in the country illegally
