NMG-U donates relief items to Kiteezi victims

Nation Media Group-Uganda (NMG-U) has donated an assortment of items to victims of the Kiteezi landfill collapse.

Yesterday, a team from NMG-U visited the area and donated milk, millet flour, toys and ropes for the children to play with, among other items. The visit followed an assessment that the company made last week to ascertain the needs of the victims.

“Now today (yesterday), we are here to support the people in Kiteezi, the people who were internally displaced after the collapse of the landfill and now this comes in the wake of our MD visiting this place last week and doing a needs assessment,” Mr Joshua Jaafa Watwaluma, the brand manager of Monitor Publications Limited, a subsidiary of NMG-U, said in an interview yesterday.

He added: “So from the needs assessment, we realised that there are so many children in this community and the number keeps growing, especially due to the fact that it is holiday time. So, when we did that needs assessment, we went back and now we have brought these items to help the children for their peace of mind.”

Mr Watwaluma called on the public to continue supporting the affected persons because there are still people in need at the camp. 

Mr John Cliff Wamala, the assistant spokesperson of the Uganda Red Cross Society, thanked NMG-U for its continued support to the community.

“Nation Media Group has for a long time had a strategic partnership with Red Cross. When we sent out a clarion call to corporate companies to stand in the gap and identify with these people, the MD, came on the ground for a needs assessment, and when we highlighted the gaps that we had, mostly highly nutritious, foods and toys for kids, she took up the report, and today they have brought in the items,” Mr Wamala said.

He added: “They brought milk, millet flour, which is rich in proteins for the lactating mothers and children, and toys, and these are going to help so much in the mental health of the children. We have more children coming in since many of them have just returned for holidays, but the places they called home are no more, so they are coming to the camp, and as part of their psychosocial support, these toys are going to come in handy.”

 Mr Edward Nkangi, the executive director of Pride Mircrofinance Limited, promised scholarships to five children in candidate classes, who were affected by the disaster.

 “The Kiteezi people will look for them because they are the ones who know the affected persons. We shall pay their fees so that they can continue with their education,” he said.

Buganda Kingdom Katikkiro (premier) Charles Peter Mayiga, while visiting the camp yesterday, advised the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) management to install an incinerator at the landfill to prevent future tragedies. The Buganda Kingdom donated food, bedding and hygiene products.

On Tuesday, hundreds of faithful from Bunyoro under the Faith of Unity group led by Owobusobozi Bisaka flocked Kiteezi to commiserate with the victims.

They delivered an assortment of relief items. The group delivered four truckfuls of raw cassava worth 500 tonnes, 300 tonnes of cassava flour, two truckfuls of posho flour worth 18 tonnes, two tonnes of beans, one tonne of ground nuts, fruits such as avocado, jack fruit, six tonnes of rice, yams, cows worth Shs10m, among other items.

On August 10, a section of the landfill in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District collapsed leaving 35 people dead, 28 missing and 261 displaced. Those displaced are currently being housed at Kiteezi Church of Uganda Primary School playground.