Hundreds of locals in Buliisa District, who were displaced by rising water levels on Lake Albert in 2020, have started returning to their homes.
The more than 10,000 locals, who have been staying in camps, say they cannot afford to continue renting land. They also blame the government for taking long to resettle them.

Floods affected homes, markets, schools, roads and health facilities in landing sites of Wanseko, Masaka, Wankende, Kaloolo, Katala, Songalendu, Chogoliech, Kabbolwa, Bugoigo, Walukuba, Butiaba, Tugombili, Booma, Munyali, and Kaweibanda, among others.
Ms Miriam Joyce, 30, a mother of six, said she decided to return to the flooded area because life in the camp had become expensive.

“I am repairing my former house so that I can shift all my properties. The government promised to have us resettled, but we have waited in vain,” she said.
She added that land owners in the camps don’t allow them to erect permanent structures.
The chairperson of Masaka Village, Mr Augustine Bagonza, said: “I cannot stop anyone going back to reconstruct his or her house because they have no sources of income to sustain their livelihoods at the camps.”

He said most of the victims derived a source of living from fishing, but their fishing gear was confiscated since it did not meet the minimum requirements.
Mr Collis Oyenyboth, 54, from Kisiimo Village, said he had been compelled to return to his former home because “the land on which we were staying doesn’t belong to us and we are always threatened with eviction.”

The Buliisa environment officer, Mr Rogers Tumusiime, said: “As a district, we are trying to design a programme to see that we notify and sensitise people about the dangers of going back to the flood-prone areas” .
The district vice chairperson, Mr Gilbert Tibasiima, said: “People should not return to those areas because nature has already shown that anytime it can reoccur. The central government has also delayed to fulfill its promise of relocating affected people”.

He said last year, the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, asked the leaders of Buliisa to look for land, which the government would buy to resettle affected people.
“The Prime Minister came here herself and asked us to look for land to resettle displaced people, but the district could not look for land without money,” he said.

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