KAMPALA — Oyam North County Member of Parliament, Dr. Eunice Apio Otuko, has appealed to Government for urgent relief following two devastating hailstorms that destroyed crops, damaged buildings and left about 1,222 households facing serious food and livelihood challenges.
Dr. Otuko raised the matter on the floor of Parliament, calling on the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry responsible for disaster preparedness to urgently intervene before the situation worsens. She said the affected communities are in dire need of immediate assistance to recover from the destruction.
The first hailstorm struck Oyam North on 13 March 2026, while a second and more recent storm hit the constituency on 14 September 2026. According to Dr. Otuko, the two disasters caused widespread destruction to farmland and property across several communities.
She said the storms completely destroyed crops belonging to approximately 1,222 households, depriving families of food and their primary source of income. The destruction has heightened concerns over food insecurity, particularly for households that depend almost entirely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
Dr. Otuko also highlighted the damage caused to public infrastructure, particularly at Ototomu Primary School, where the roofs of two classroom blocks were blown off by the hailstorm. She said the damage has disrupted the learning environment and left pupils vulnerable, especially during the ongoing rainy season.
The legislator told Parliament that the Chief Administrative Officer’s office had already submitted a formal report on the extent of the damage to the Office of the Prime Minister, but no response had been received at the time of her submission. She expressed concern that continued delays could deepen the hardship faced by affected families.
Dr. Otuko called for immediate Government support in three critical areas: roofing and other construction materials to restore the damaged classroom blocks, food relief for the 1,222 affected households, and seeds to enable farmers to replant and begin rebuilding their livelihoods.
“We have a situation in Oyam North. On two occasions now, we have had two terrible hailstorms that completely destroyed farmlands belonging to about 1,222 households and brought down certain buildings. Most especially, we lost the roofs of two classroom blocks at Ototomu Primary School,” Dr. Otuko told Parliament.
Dr. Otuko urged the Government to treat the situation as an emergency and respond without further delay, stressing that timely assistance would help affected families regain food security, restore agricultural production and protect children whose education has been disrupted by the disaster.
