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submitted 9 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

A Ugandan government minister is facing criticism after calling those who have died of hunger in his country "idiots".

Many have deemed Henry Okello Oryem's comments tone-deaf.

In 2022, more than 2,200 people died of starvation and related illnesses in north-east Uganda, a report by an official human rights body said.

But Mr Oryem argued that given the favourable climate and fertile land people should be able to grow food for themselves.

"It's only an idiot, a real idiot, that can die of hunger in Uganda," the state minister for foreign affairs told the NTV Uganda television channel.

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[-] RememberTheApollo@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago

Says a fat man wearing a suit.

[-] Bennettiquette@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago

“who dies of hunger? eat something you idiot”

[-] ivanafterall@kbin.social 17 points 9 months ago

"Oryem also denied reports that he recently ate all of the nation's food, despite his body being visibly shaped like the outline of the nation's entire food supply."

[-] prole@sh.itjust.works 24 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Heard about this dude on NPR. He's spending an insane sum of money on a new palace. Priorities.

He's also said that Uganda actually produces enough food to be a net exporter and that all this alleged starvation isn't really happening.

I guess this is what it means to live in a "post-truth" world.

[-] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 15 points 9 months ago

I hope the "have-nots" eat that fat fuck.

[-] Nastybutler@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago

Sounds like Uganda has their own version of Trump

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


A Ugandan government minister is facing criticism after calling those who have died of hunger in his country "idiots".

In 2022, more than 2,200 people died of starvation and related illnesses in north-east Uganda, a report by an official human rights body said.

But Mr Oryem argued that given the favourable climate and fertile land people should be able to grow food for themselves.

Moses Aleper, a legislator for Chekwii county, which is part of the affected Karamoja region, told the BBC that Mr Oryem's views are "not right" and "unfortunate coming from a minister who knows what goes on in this country".

Prominent Ugandan author and journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo also hit out at Mr Oryem, saying that the minister failed to grasp "that hunger in a country like Uganda is a distribution/market problem".

Official data on the current food situation in Karamoja is unavailable, but it often experiences hunger during dry seasons due to the region's semi-arid climatic conditions.


The original article contains 364 words, the summary contains 160 words. Saved 56%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] SpiceDealer@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I feel really fucking stupid for letting my stomach meet my rib cage!

[-] Gazumi@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Let's see him using his intellect to feed himself if he lives their lives

this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
115 points (100.0% liked)

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