False, there has been droughts reported in Uganda and DRC too.
On 7th November 2022 Standard Digital made a Facebook post with a quote by Kenyan President William Ruto saying “The whole of Africa region, including Kenya, is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years. 2 consecutive years without rain have visited misery on millions of people.”
Claim
A Facebook user then commented with attack on William Ruto’s speech writer and also made claims that “…Uganda, DRC are filthy rich with rains, no droughts have been experienced….
THE FACT-CHECK
Yes, the two countries(Uganda and DRC) are largely experiencing tropical climates with an average of two rainy seasons per year, March to May and September to December in Uganda while April through October in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
ARE THERE DROUGHT CASES IN UGANDA AND DRC?
Allafrica, a news website which put up content about Africa, published an article in 2021 by the monitor. In the article were reports about the different droughts in Uganda. According to the author, Uganda experienced a prolonged dry spell after the rains expected to start in March-April up to May-June did not pour in sufficient amounts.
The drought affected many parts of the country, including Northern parts of Uganda, the Teso Sub-region and Luwero district which all lie outside the tropical belt. A total of 222,930 persons representing 36,404 Households were affected by the Drought.
Additional reports on droughts in Uganda include, Reuters on 19th July 2022 reported about the death of 200 people in Northern Uganda due to hunger which is attributed to a prolonged drought and rampant food insecurities in this area, The Independent on 27th July 2022 reporting about a prolonged drought in Luwero district which left severe agricultural losses, and more.
In Uganda, droughts affected close to 2.4 million people between 2004 and 2013.
Additionally, In the Democratic Republic of Congo, The World bank states that the northeastern part is highly susceptible to droughts and has the highest drought coefficient. In 2019 droughts were reported in the northern and southern parts of the country, and this is according to the International disaster database.
“Numerous reports about famine and hunger are reported in DRC and they have often been attributed to wars and natural devastation such as drought” The guardian.
Droughts have not only been experienced in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo but they have also largely been reported in the parts of the Greater Horn of African countries including Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda.
Other African countries with droughts include Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, northern Nigeria, northern Burkina Faso, the southern part of Madagascar and much of Niger.
Verdict
Based on all the evidential facts above, the claim that “Uganda, DRC are filthy rich with rains is MOSTLY TRUE but the claim that no droughts have been experienced” is FALSE.
This fact-check was produced by Debunk Media Initiative with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, International Fact-Checking Network and African Fact-Checking Alliance network.
