Nabbanja to create 5 regional centers for disaster management

By Francis Lubega

11^th Aug 2022

The Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hillary Onek says that the Office of the Prime Minister is set to establish 5 regional centers to manage disasters.

These will cost a total of 899.4 billion Shillings (US Dollars 234million).

Minister Onek made the statement on Thursday while appearing before Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee which is currently inquiring into the government’s interventions in the famine and hunger situation in the Karamoja sub-region.

He told MPs that the government had developed a robust disaster risk management plan, which was recently approved by the Cabinet to help mitigate impending disasters across the country.

According to Onek, his Ministry intends to timely confront the disasters through well positioned regional centers in the East, North, South, West and Central.

He says that the government has already committed $50 million to establish the response systems.

He said that the regional centers will enable the government to quickly respond to disasters in different areas and also help prepare the population to respond to risks.

Onek also appealed for an independent vote and budget for the Ministry for Relief and Disaster, saying that this will help them respond to disasters. Currently, the Directorate of Disaster Preparedness and Management are managed under the Office of the Prime Minister -OPM.

Catherine Ahimbisibwe, the Acting Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness and Management, told the committee that the government has since March this year distributed 2,562,000 kilograms of maize flour and 1,281,000 kilograms of beans as relief food to the affected districts in Karamoja sub region.

With the entire Karamoja having a population of 1.2million, it means on average everyone has received 2 kilos of maize flour and one kilo of beans.