Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah on Friday handed over 2,200 iron sheets to selected beneficiaries in northern Uganda.
The iron sheets are part of the planned 10,000 to be procured this financial year 2017/18 under the Post-war Recovery and the Presidential Pledges Programme.
Families with children suffering from nodding disease were the first beneficiaries.
In March, government allocated Shs1.4b to revitalise the nodding syndrome response in northern Uganda.
With this funding, more than 3,000 patients will be provided with medicines (anticonvulsants) from treatment centres in addition to provision of food (posho and beans) for four months and non-food items including blankets, bedsheets and mattresses), according to a team led by Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda at the OPM early this month.
Beneficiaries of the iron sheets delivered by Mr Oulanyah include Omoro district, which received 240 pieces, Kitgum got 240 and Teso journalists received 30 iron sheets.
Others groups which received are Barlonyo churches 150, Lira district 300 and Okwakol Lazarus (Blind beneficiary) located in Ngora district received 40 pieces.
Oulanyah handed over the items to area legislators.
Nodding disease or nodding syndrome is a recent, little-known disease which emerged in Sudan in the 1960s.
It is a mentally and physically disabling disease that only affects children, typically between the ages of 5 and 15. It is currently restricted to small regions in South Sudan, Tanzania, and northern Uganda.
Hoes handed over
Under the same programme, 21,000 hand hoes were procured and distributed to beneficiaries in Northern Uganda through members of Parliament for the region.
The procurement of these and other items such as agricultural tractors, ox-ploughs, cassava chippers, sewing machines, grain milling machines and support in form of micro projects in fulfillment of Presidential pledges and other post-war recovery interventions is a continuous process as resources are made available.
These affirmative interventions are targeted at the most vulnerable groups and individuals in the communities such as women, youth, people with disabilities, who would otherwise not feel the impact of ordinary government programmes without direct support.
