Floods submerge 50 homesteads in villages near river Nyamwamba

Kasese, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  More than 50 homesteads have been submerged by water in Kanyangeya main cell, Nyamwamba Division, Kasese District. The area is adjacent to River Nyamwaba. 

The River flooded in May leaving a trail of destruction across the district and displacing some of its waters into low lands, where homesteads remain submerged while others have been totally destroyed. The affected people have now set up makeshift structures at Kanyangeya and Cremson Primary School playgrounds while others have since relocated to stay with relatives.

The settlement area hosted brick makers more than 20-years ago before the municipal authority banned the activities allowing human settlement. But the previous activities had created a man-made valley that holds water for long hours even after a downpour.

Annet Masika,  a mother of six, says that after the May floods, the area has also seen an increase in water oozing from the underground which is slowly displacing people. Masika says that the rising water levels have destroyed all their household properties.

Julius Monday the camp leader at Kanyangeya Primary School says that despite the fact that they haven’t registered any death, the situation is appalling and that the residents are at high risk of contracting water-borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera due to the deteriorating sanitation in the area. 

Umar Tusiime, another resident says the situation is out of hand with many families sleeping in the cold and without food. He is concerned that the place is now becoming a host of dangerous aquatic animals like hippopotamus,’  and a breeding area for mosquitoes, all of which are dangerous in a human settlement.

He wants the government to de-silt the Nyamwamba River and create a channel through which the flooded water can meander to another water body.

Desperate residents on Friday used rudimentary tools like hoes to try and de-silt part of Nyamwamba river. The residents say once the river bed is deepened, they can channel the flooded water into the river.  

David Monday, one of the residents pleaded with the government to relocate them to safer zones and save them from the devastating effects of the rising water levels. He says that he lost all his household properties when his house was brought down by floods.  

James Mutahinga, the secretary of Kanyangeye main cell says the situation is likely to worsen as more rains are predicated next month. He observes a need for resettling the affected persons to safer places.    

The Kasese Resident District Commissioner Joe Walusimbi says they have contacted the government for a response.

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