Civilians Hospitalized in South Sudan’s Leer County After Eating Contaminated Food Distributed Through WFP
An MSF doctor (centre) and an MSF community area supervisor (right) treat a woman who has fallen sick, at an outdoor support clinic in Leer County, South Sudan(Photo credit: MSF/SSNN)
Monday May 13, 2019(SSNN) — Reports emerging from South Sudan’s Leer County confirm that more than 50 people have been hospitalized or affected in Leer County of Unity State after eating contaminated food that was recently distributed through the World Food Program.
Blaming both the government of Salva Kiir and the World Food Program, residents from Leer, who spoke to South Sudan News Now Correspondent, believe that the food was contaminated in the stores in Juba and therefore the government and WFP should be held accountable.
“Obviously they did it to eliminate us. Being Dr. Riek Machar’s hometown, we have many haters in South Sudan. This is part of Dinka’s revenge policy, when they can’t shoot us, they kill us through poison and diseases. Someone is doing this with backing from people in Salva Kiir’s government” Said Bol Gatluok Bidit.
“No civilian can just walk into UN stores and start poisoning thousands sacks of food without being detected and arrested. There must be invisible hands from Kiir’s men in this but all in all we willl survive all their tactics” He continued.
Others blame the World Food Program for distributing food that is contaminated and calls for accountability.
“Big organizations like WFP have capacity to test their Food and ensures that it is healthy for human consumption before distributing it, not after it has killed people. We are very disappointed and want the UN to hold WFP leadership in Juba accountable.” Said Elizabeth William, an NGO employee working in Juba, South Sudan.
“UN should not be part of genocide in South Sudan, we have had enough from our failed leadership. They should value lives more than this” She continued.
The residents confirmed that the world body has taken precautions and more food samples are being tested to find the cause and how to avoid such incidents in the future.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has faced similar food and drugs incidents more rapidly recently. At least 15 people died from vaccination error in 2017 during a vaccination campaign in Kapoeta State and similar cases were reported in Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement and Yumbe District according to WFP.
Facebook Comments