By Esther Kalenzi
Early this week, the Kenyan government donated 123 metric tones of relief food items worth shs 364 million to the victims of the Bududa landslides that killed over 350 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the Mt Elgon area.
The untimely Bududa landslides bewildered the nation and the effect they have had is even harder to swallow. With all this damage caused by natural disasters lately, it is almost impossible for one to stay sane. Kenya’s relief that was handed over to the Uganda’s Prime Minister Appolo Nsibambi by provincial commissioner Samuel Kalele must be applauded in more ways than one. It was indeed sad that the Kenyan Vice President Mr Kalonzo Musyoka could not make it to hand it over himself after he was involved in a plane mishap because of bad weather.
Foremost, the Kenyan neighbors have demonstrated that they are a step a head in operationalising the spirit of the spirit of the East African Community. Kenya has had its fair share of disasters in the recent times especially serious food shortages as a result of long spells of drought but that did not deter them from making a fair contribution to the Ugandan government.
In essence the Kenyan government has set the precedent for the rest of the East African countries to follow. No matter how little the contribution might be, member states must always give a hand to the affected country if the much hyped East African Community is to be realized.
The Kenyan government deserves praise and gratitude for this move which comes at an opportune time when we are progressively working towards the East African Community. We are extremely indebted for this help and should continue to nurture such friendships between the two countries.
We need to also commend the efforts of the several organizations that have surfaced to provide relief to the people of Bududa. The Nation Group of Companies, Tullow Oil, Barclays Bank, MTN Uganda among others, have been invaluable in assisting the Bududa victims.
Once again, my heartfelt condolences go out to those families that lost their loved ones as well as the thousands of Ugandans that have been left homeless.
Atim Paula
