New details about boat that killed 5 on Lake Victoria emerge

Details emerging about the ill-fated boat that claimed five lives on Lake Victoria yesterday, indicate that the boat engine had earlier developed mechanical faults and was fixed on its way to the Kachanga Landing Site.

Mr Abdul Mutaawe, a survivor, said the boat that set off from the Lujaabwa Landing Site in Mazinga Sub-county made a stopover to have the engine repaired.

“By midnight, we had reembarked on our journey to the Kachanga Landing Site after repairs for our boat engine were done at Kananansi Landing Site. We also encountered the winds about 10 minutes after setting off from Kananansi,” he said in an interview on Monday.

While police are yet to release a detailed report of the findings that could have caused the accident, a section of the leaders in Kalangala District say the strong and frequent winds coupled with the old engine boats put lives of people traveling on the Lake Victoria waters at risk.

Ms Resty Nakawungu, the Kalangala District vice chairperson, said the life jackets and engine boats are still very expensive for the people of Kalangala.

“Our people are using very old engines because the new engines are very expensive. Life jackets are equally expensive. This partly explains why only one person out of the eight on the ill-fated boat had a life jacket,” she said.

Mr Moses Kabuusu, the MP for Kyamuswa County in Kalangala District, said lack of comprehensive laws regulating the use of old boats, traveling at night, and overloading remain a big challenge on the lake waters.

“We are experiencing heavy winds on the Lake, but we also have a challenge that some of our people are using very old boats, including the use of non-motorised ones that compromise safety,” he said.

According to one of the survivors, Mr Abdul Mataawe, the boat was hit by heavy water waves as they sailed to Kachanga Landing Site in Masaka District at about 12:10am.

“When the waves hit us, the engine stopped and the water filled our boat. We were forced to jump into water to try and swim to the mainland,” he said.

Mr Charles Bukenya, one of the people who tried to rescue the eight people after receiving a distress call from one of the accident victims, said: “We first rescued the boat passenger who had a life jacket while two of the other survivors used their respective swimming skills to get to the mainland. Our efforts to find the other passengers did not yield fruit.”

Mr Henry Lubuulwa, the Assistant Kalangala RDC, said 10 people had originally boarded the boat.

“The ill-fated boat had eight people after two members chose to board a different boat when it got to Kananansi Landing Site. Five people drowned while the survivors are three,” he said.

The fishermen in collaboration with the police had by yesterday afternoon recovered the five bodies from the lake.

The boat accident is the second to claim such a big number of lives since the August 3, 2023 accident that claimed 16 lives in the same district.

Days after the 2023 incident, the government banned all passenger and cargo boats from sailing between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am. The boat operators in Buvuma, Kalangala, among other Island areas, protested the ban.

The State Minister for Transport, Mr Fred Byamukama, then ordered the boat operators to ensure passengers put on life jackets. He also ordered the inspection of the boats by the area police.

A good life jacket costs between Shs50, 000 and Shs100,000.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, Uganda registers one of the World’s highest drowning death rates with 502 in every 100,000 people residing in the Lakeside fishing communities.

In Uganda, more than 90 percent of recorded drowning cases are fatalities and many go unreported.

By press time yesterday, the police was yet to release a detailed report about the boat accident.

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