L.Kyoga floods cut off 21 villages in Nakasongola
What you need to know:
- More than 80 percent of the road infrastructure in Nakasongola Town Council and Nakasongola Sub-county have been washed away by floods.
More than 200 families from 21 villages in Lwampanga Sub-county and Lwampanga Town Council in Nakasongola District are stranded after losing property to fresh Lake Kyoga floods.
The floods that have also washed away the roads connecting to different parts of the district have left some buildings submerged.
The main road linking Kibuye Landing Site and Lwampanga Town is submerged too.
Those using ferry services reportedly maneuver through the flooded sections of the road covering about 13kms, before they get to the landing site.
Ms Jamila Nakiyimba, the vice chairperson of Lwampanga Town Council, says residents at the villages of Munami, Kabasombwe, Zengebe and Lwampanga are now surrounded by the flash floods.
“The floods have washed away the gardens while several homesteads are submerged. The police post at Lwampanga Village is partially submerged,” she said at the weekend.
Mr Edward Kisambira, a resident of Kabasombwe Village, said he has evacuated his family of seven children to Nakasongola Town for safety after withstanding the floods for more than one week.
“We lost four acres of the cassava, potatoes and maize gardens to floods. When the waters submerged a section of the buildings near my home, I decided to move my family to a safer area in Nakasongola Town Council,” he said.
Mr Dan Bukenya, the district councillor representing Lwampanga Town Council, said more than 80 percent of the road infrastructure in Nakasongola Town Council and Nakasongola Sub-county have been washed away by floods from Lake Kyoga in a period of two weeks.
“The floods have not only washed away the roads, but also destroyed gardens. Our people face imminent hunger. The leadership in these areas has already alerted the responsible offices for assistance,” he said.
Other affected villages where residents have lost property to the floods include Kikoiro, Kiwembi, Kisaalizi, Kimaga, Kabuye, and Wajala.
Road repair
Mr Sam Kigula, the Nakasongola District chairperson, said: “The efforts that we recently undertook to repair the roads accessing Lwampanga, among other areas, have been ruined by the flood. We are back to zero in some of these areas.”
The speaker for Nakasongola District Council, Mr Rogers Sunday Bwanga, said the government should come to their rescue.
Between 2021 and 2022, the Lake Kyoga flash floods displaced an estimated 4,000 families from more than 25 villages in Nakasongola District. The floods submerged different infrastructure, including schools and health units in Lwampanga Sub-county.
The government recently commissioned Lwampanga Health Centre IV and Lwampanga Primary School that were relocated after floods submerged their respective buildings in 2022.
Last week, while speaking to Journalists in Kampala, Water and Environment minister Sam Cheptoris said Cabinet had endorsed the allocation of Shs5.5 billion to support immediate measures addressing the rising water levels in the country’s water bodies.
