Five villages told to vacate over rising water levels
Rev Fr Expedito Masereka leads Mass at the burial of some of the victims of the landslide in Kibirizi Cell, Kasese District yesterday. Photo / Joel Kaguta
What you need to know:
- The affected villages include Kasika, Mukathi, Kigoro, Kabughabugha, and Kalingata.
- The officials, who are working with the Red Cross, blamed the rising water levels on the heavy rains.
Kasese District officials have ordered residents in five villages near the banks of River Nyamwamba to vacate their homes following reports that the water levels have risen.
The affected villages include Kasika, Mukathi, Kigoro, Kabughabugha, and Kalingata.
The officials, who are working with the Red Cross, blamed the rising water levels on the heavy rains.
The Kasese District chairman, Mr Eliphaz Muhindi Bukombi, said the move follows a resolution by the district disaster committee.
The Red Cross spokesperson, Ms Irene Nakasiita, said they detected the rising water levels using the early warning machine which was installed at River Nyamwaba.
“We are warning people who are staying near the river to be on alert and to keep monitoring the water levels,” Ms Nakasiita said.
The warning comes a day after 16 people from Kasika Trading Centre in Rukoki Sub-county died after landslides hit the area on Wednesday.
Mr Samson Bwambale, 72, said his shop was destroyed in the landslide.
“I made a loss of more than Shs3 million, but I thank God because together with my children we managed to escape,” he said.
He said they are now living with relatives because the trading centre is still covered in mud.
Mr Didas Bwambale, 47, said his new house, which was still under construction, was destroyed.
He added that he bought building materials worth Shs1.6 million but they were washed away.
On the same day, the district authorities ordered all residents who are staying near the Kadingidi-Kamakombo valley to also leave the area.
In an interview with the Monitor yesterday, the Kasika Trading Centre chairperson, Mr Simon Buhaka, said one person was still missing.
At least 18 people have died in the last two weeks after heavy rains caused floods and landslides in the area.
In May 2020, seven people died after River Nyamwamba burst its banks.
landslide victims laid to rest
The victims of the landslides in Kisaki Trading Centre in Kasese District were yesterday laid to rest in Kigoro Village.
At least 16 people lost their lives after landslides hit the trading centre on Wednesday morning.
A mass of soaked soil broke off from the hills and powered down along alleys opened by run-off water, and the addition of rolling displaced rocks super-charged the speed and might of the 4am debris.
It landed with a bang on Kasika Trading Centre in Rukoki Sub-county, toppling six houses and carpeting vanilla and other farmlands valued by local leaders to gross several millions of shillings.
