Bududa landslide victims moved away from rubble

The government under its new strategy of cash transfer, has started the relocation of more landslide victims from Bududa District to Bunambutye resettlement site in Bulambuli District.

Under the new strategy, which Cabinet approved and was adopted in 2022, the landslide survivors are given money and two acres of land to construct their own houses.

Previously, the government used to construct a house sitting on one acre for the victims and also provided them with two acres for farming, a strategy that proved to be slow and expensive.

Two hundred fifty three households have been identified for relocation, which exercise started at the weekend. 20 households were relocated on Saturday.

Each household received Shs7 million from Give Directly last year and Shs10 million from the government totalling to Shs17 million in April.

“I know we are going to face some hardships but we are determined and happy as well because finally we will no longer have sleepless nights,” Mr Aaron Kutosi, one of the victims from Shishendu Parish in Bubiita Sub-county, said.

Mr Kutosi said he had been living in fear of him and his family being buried in landslides ever since 2019 when some of his relatives perished in landslides. 

“I am relieved that I am going to a safer place,” Mr Kutosi said.

Relocation exercise

The Office of Prime Minister identified about 5,517 households living in landslide-prone areas in the Elgon Sub-region but the government has provided Shs12.5 billion out of the Shs57 billion needed for relocation.

Ms Alice Nandala, a victim from Namurwe Village in Bubiita Sub-county, was excited about relocation. 

“I am leaving this ancestral place where I have lived since my childhood and now I am a grandmother but besides all the stories they tell us about life at a place they are taking us, I am just excited that I am going to start staying without fear,” Ms Nandala said.

The victims, who have so far been relocated, are being housed in the buildings of Bunambutye Primary School at the resettlement camp as they embark on construction of their houses. 

Mr Robert Wakoko said he intends to use the two acres of land he is going to be given to engage in commercial farming.

“We don’t want to go to Bunambutye and come back to Bududa to bury more people who have been killed by landslides and therefore, I am calling on all those people who are still staying in landslide-prone areas to vacate,” Mr Wakoko said.

Ms Lorna Naluboka Lorna, another beneficiary from Nanyiza Village in Bubiita Sub-county, said they have been living in fear.

“When the rain comes we [are sent into panic] because most of our neighbours have been killed by landslides. Even though our colleagues who are already at camp tell us there is a lot of sunshine, we would rather go there than die from here,” Ms Naluboka said.

The government has been resettling households at high risk of landslides in the Elgon Sub-region since the 2010 Nametsi landslide disaster where more than 100 lives were lost.

The survivors of the 2010 landslides were relocated to government land in Kiryandongo District but later in 2019 the government procured land for resettlement in Bulambuli. Close to 300 families, comprising more than 5,000 people, have so far been resettled.

Ms Alice Wabuyaka, another beneficiary from Shiteeka Parish, said although they are going to Bulambuli,most people have already used the money that the government paid them.

Mr Francies Wambete, another beneficiary from Shiteeka Parish, said most of the victims living in the high-risk areas were not registered.

“Places like shiteeka and Nanyiza have people who have not been registered because registration was done when people were in the gardens and markets,” Mr Wambete said.

Ms Annet Nandudu, the Bulambuli District chairperson, asked the government to improve the services at the resettlement camp, saying the conditions are appalling.

“Those people are battling serious water issues because the area is a dry corridor. There is no secondary school and the primary one has no teachers because all teachers run away,” she said.

Mr Wilson Kamoti Wasunguyi, the Bududa District chairperson, also decried the poor state of the roads at the resettlement camp.

Mr Titus Muhofah, a senior disaster management officer at the OPM, said the government is determined to ensure there are no more deaths related to landslides in the mountainous regions by ensuring that all the people are relocated and resettled.

“We are meant to relocate more than 5,500 households from the Elgon Sub-region and of the 253 households from Bududa, which we started with in this phase. It is just the beginning “ Mr Muhofah, said.

Mr Dunstan Balaba, the permanent at OPM, said the government reached terms of relocation with the affected families two years ago.

“We have been with Shs12.5 billion for two years now and we have decided that we will use this money to resettle 253 families on the already available 506 acres of land at Bunambutye as we make arrangements to procure more land,” Mr Balaba said.

He said the government will be giving money to the affected people to decide by themselves on whether to be resettled or to buy land somewhere else.