MP Ayaka secures relief aid for Maracha mysterious fire victims
MARACHA. The woman Member of Parliament (MP) for Maracha district Ms Rose Atima Ayaka has lobbied relief aid from the office of the Prime Minister (OPM) for the fire victims in Kijomoro sub-county, Maracha district.
The assortment of items to support over 400 fire victims in Rikabu village were delivered to local leaders at Kijomoro sub-county headquarters on Friday.
The ongoing mysterious fire that started in March has so far burnt a total of 136 grass thatched houses in the area, leaving the affected locals homeless and with nothing to eat.
In a bid to rescue the situation, Ayaka petitioned the government which later intervened through OPM to donate the relief items.
These include; 3 tonnes of posho, 1.5 tonnes of beans, 100 pieces of blankets, and 50 bundles of tarpaulins which will be distributed to the affected locals.
“Uganda is hit by floods, landslides, the two waves of locust invasion, the drought that affected wide areas in the Northern region which brought famine and this mysterious fire that is ravaging Rikabu village which has stretched the ministry of disaster preparedness. So, if we have managed to get such support we are blessed,” Ayaka said.
She, however, called upon the stakeholders in the sub-county to lay all the necessary strategies to identify the cause of the fires and find a lasting solution to end the suffering among the victims.
She also challenged the leaders of Kijomoro sub-county with guidance from the CAO to distribute the items proportionally, according to the number of victims in the affected 88 households in compliance with the standard operating procedures set to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID 19).
Kijomoro sub-county chief, Mr Francis Edoni who hailed the efforts of the woman MP and other stakeholders including media, pledged to ensure that the items are delivered to the rightful beneficiaries on Sunday after careful analysis.
Kijmoro sub-county chairman Mr William Matua appealed to the people who have witnessed the delivery of the items to take a clear message to the communities that the items only belong to the victims of the mysterious fire.
“If you see the suffering of the victims, you will not think of diverting anything out of the consignment, if you are a leader and you have an intention to go home with something, better leave now to avoid problems,” Matua warned.
Ms. Josephine Injikuru, the district female councillor for Kijomoro sub-county thanked the government for the support that is going to relieve the vulnerable people in the affected community including children and the elderly.
“Let no one undermine this support except, let other individuals and relief organisations join hands to provide more food and other things like utensils and construction materials that are missing yet,” Inzikuru requested.
Mr James Lifoa, one of the victims said the support will be a big relief after the tarpaulin he was using got destroyed on Thursday night when there was a heavy downpour.
Meanwhile the area LC1 chairman Mr. Jimmy Andrua said the entire village failed to sleep on Friday night due to excitement
People from the neighbouring villages were surprised to hear victims celebrating, yelling, and ululating, they felt liberated because men here are sleeping on trees and over six women sleep in one house every night. Since the fires broke out, no single woman is pregnant so we are going to begin covering our roofs of the burnt houses with the carpets immediately for life to resume again”, Andrua lamented.
Prior to the delivery, four more houses burnt over the night on Thursday due to the mysterious fire which usually burns the houses between 3:00 and 5:00 am (East African Time).
