Fresh mudslides knock down Kasese buildings
Residents look at the Bridage that was connecting Karambi and Kitholhu Sub Counties- that was washed away by floods at the river in Lhubiriha in Kasese District on August 15.PHOTO/JOEL KAGUTA
What you need to know:
- Mr Jocknus Bazarwa, the publicity secretary for Nganji Village, explained that his office had by yesterday registered seven houses that were severely affected by mudslides.
More than 100 people in Kasese District have abandoned their homes, which got flooded following a downpour at the weekend.
The affected people are from 20 households, which were in 2020 destroyed by mudslides.
The affected homes are in the sub-counties of Kilembe and Kitholhu while other houses were affected by heavy storm in Kihalimu Cell, Central Division, Kasese Municipality.
Mr Jocknus Bazarwa, the publicity secretary for Nganji Village, explained that his office had by yesterday registered seven houses that were severely affected by mudslides.
“We have been receiving rain and it has resulted in mudslides which have destroyed people’s homes. The occupants have since abandoned them because they are not habitable. We have advised them to look for other places or stay with their relatives,” he said.
While no deaths have been registered so far, leaders have warned people living in disaster-prone areas to leave.
Repeat floods
For the last seven years, the district has been experiencing back-to-back floods during the rainy month of May, leaving scores dead, properties destroyed and thousands displaced.
Last year in May, three children in Bunyandiko Village died after mudslides buried the house in which they were staying.
Some people living in hilly areas have continued to cultivate using poor farming methods, which have made the area prone to disaster.
Ms Jetu Mbambu said she survived death with her five children when their house was swept away by mudslide. “I was seated with my children in the house, I heard something hitting outside my house. My elder daughter rushed outside and found out mudslides had hit one side of the wall of the house and we moved out,” she said.
The Kitholhu Sub-county chairperson, Mr Emmanuel Kule Maliba, reported that eight houses have been affected by mudslides in his area.
Most of the rivers in the district originate from Rwenzori Mountain and empty into the two drainage basins of Lake George and Edward.
The district senior planner, Mr Joseph Isingoma, warned people to be careful in the month of May, saying most rivers have started to experience an increase in water volumes.
Previous incidents
Last August, two bodies of flood victims were retrieved from River Nyamwamba and River Dunguliha. One was of Linas Masereka, a 17-year-old Senior One student of Kilembe Secondary School. In 2020, eight people died in floods and mudslides that hit parts of Kasese District on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after River Thaku burst its banks.
