Eastern Uganda has been hit below the belly by a severe famine owing to a continuous draught this season. An earlier report had stated that 19 out of 39 districts in the country are suffering from the dry spell. In fact, residents in the district of Kumi and the Ongino subcountry are reported to be eating thorn tree leaves by boiling the bitter leaves.
This development comes hand in hand with the decision taken by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to forgive some of the loans they had forwarded to Uganda. Both the institutions expect to slash as much as us $300 million from Uganda's international debt of us $3.4 billion.
Uganda is considered one of Africa's 'rare economic success stories' which has adhered to economic strictures prescribed by the Bank and the Fund.
But ironically, although the government claims that there is foodstuff in shops in the famine-affected districts, the residents say they are cash-strapped.
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