1.7 million refugees in Uganda face an uncertain future as donors who have been picking up the bill for their feeding have decided to stop funding in the next three months.
The Government of Uganda is now set to bear the burden of feeding the refugees.
Uganda’s General Duties Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Kasule Lumumba, made the ominous revelation while appearing before Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee to present the ministry’s 2025/26 policy statement.
“The donors have written to us informing us that they can only provide food for the next three months. After that, we must find a solution. When you talk of 1.7 million people, feeding them is not something we can postpone,” she told parliamentarians. “We must have a discussion at cabinet and then come to parliament to address this matter.”
“We are writing a paper to take to the cabinet to look at the issue of food for the refugees,” Minister Lumumba added.
Uganda hosts over 1.7 million refugees and asylum seekers, 1 million of them South Sudanese, making it the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa and the sixth largest in the world.
Uganda has long been praised for its open-door refugee policy, allowing those fleeing conflict to live and work freely.