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Locust invasion: Misconceptions and hilarious tales - Uganda style
What you need to know:
- Social media. I cannot stop musing over an item, obviously cooked in the kitchen of the social media. The item in budget shows the hiring of stone-throwers to scare away locusts at Shs1m.
When the desert locust invaded Uganda some three weeks ago, many did not believe what they were hearing. For after all, none or very few had seen locusts in more than 70 years.
Others may have read about it in that most famous book, the Bible. Yet others will have heard about the now notorious insect from their ageing parents. So the tales that I wish to share were not surprising to me, one of the very few Ugandans that have researched and worked on locusts. Maybe the only one.
Uganda government responded to the desert locust invasion at its highest level. This was good and unprecedented response to any insect attack.
Perhaps the President had heard the devastating impact of the previous invasion that occurred in the 1940s and 1950s from his own parents - an invasion that left behind widespread hunger and famine. The President demanded for plans for confronting the invasion.
Cabinet was regularly briefed, inter-ministerial as well as political and technical committees were formed and met regularly. The inter-ministerial committee meets daily to receive briefings on locust situation from the Ministry of Agriculture.
In addition, budgets were prepared. And here also entered the hilarious part played by Ugandans in the social media.
I cannot stop musing over an item, obviously cooked in the kitchen of the social media. The item in budget shows the hiring of stone-throwers to scare away locusts at Shs1m.
The other one is hiring Masai drummers at Shs3 billion. Presumably, Ugandans cannot beat the drums in the style to scare away locusts. But stone-throwing is not a joking matter.
As I was entering Moroto District to participate in the ongoing locust control work, a huge bang rocked the car in which I was travelling smashing the screen. The experience was frightening and reminded me of the times of pre-disarmament when gunshots were the order of the day.
I am glad I escaped unhurt to share the story. What also intrigued me is the amount of time spent in this innovative way of cooking a budget, call it alternative thinking that the formulator of the social budget spent. If this avant-gardist would spend his or her time in more positive innovations, Uganda would be sure to progress in economic development.
Then there is the Masaka locust song. Two young men have composed a locust song, in effect that says, “Banamasaka are very excited with the presence of locusts in Uganda and that they should not be sprayed as it is a highly nutritious food.”
Back to the control rooms of the official media. One of the newspapers captioned a screaming headline: ‘Mating locusts excite residents’ and predicted a baby boom nine months from the month of February.
The Observer newspaper has a cartoon in which a radio blares out an announcement that Uganda has procured pesticides for locust control. The group of locusts in the hearing retort: ‘We are safe, they will steal the pesticides.’
And in the political arena, consistent with the budget allocation of the social media version, a minister gave a TV interview in which he urged Ugandans to descend on Karamoja and feast on the locusts.
In the field theatre of operations, UPDF soldiers wake up soon after midnight and are already spraying the locust target, catching the locusts off guard, killing millions that leave carpets of cadavers inches thick. What happens to the environment thereafter will be determined after locust death.
But false reports are always a challenge to field control teams. A few days ago, a high powered team, including yours sincerely, received reports of the hatching of hoppers (nymphs). We moved more than 60km only to confirm that the report was indeed false.
This among many challenges that confront locust control teams every day is a learning experience. So the official budget support is always received with suspicion, but the reality hits once operations begin.
The facts: Locust swarms continue to invade Uganda from Kenya and from South Sudan too. Locusts successfully laid eggs in Kenya and possibly in Uganda too.
Hence Uganda must remain alert.
Dr Bahana (PhD), worked for the Zambia-based International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa
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