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Kasese floods: Rich today and poor tomorrow
What you need to know:
Today, we are about six years to the target year, yet climate change is worsening in some parts of the World. Kenyans are weeping with floods; South Sudan was recently hit by very high atmospheric temperatures and the government was forced to close schools temporarily
Climate Change has received considerable attention from Global leaders, and governments and has been listed among the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals the World seeks to achieve by 2030.
Today, we are about six years to the target year, yet climate change is worsening in some parts of the World. Kenyans are weeping with floods; South Sudan was recently hit by very high atmospheric temperatures and the government was forced to close schools temporarily. It was reported that atmospheric temperatures hit 45 degrees. Whether we started the climate action campaigns late or our interventions are less strategic is a debate for another day but climate-induced disasters are on the rise. Today, Kasese District is struggling with heavy floods.
I was in Kasese on recently and I was carried twice on someone’s back to cross River Kabiri in Kyondo Sub-county. Today, hundreds of families in the sub-counties such as Kyondo, Kyarumba, Kitholhu, Kilembe, Kithabu, Nyakiyumbu, and Kasese Municipality are suffering. People have lost lives, houses, and animals and thousands have been displaced from their homes.
I visited a campsite in Kyondo Sub-county where over 150 people were staying in a church because their homes had been swept away by floods.
This is not the first time floods have hit Kasese. It has been happening for the last five years especially in May and November with rivers Nyamwamba and Nyamugasani making headlines. Some rich people have turned very poor and miserable because floods took away all their wealth.
There is a need for emergency support at the district and sub-county levels. Some bridges are impassable, and floods have cut off access to major services such as hospitals and schools.
I witnessed an ambulance driver from one of the hospitals struggling to cross the flooded Kyarumba Road to pick up an expectant mother.
Moreover, schools will resume next week and I am out of thoughts on how learners will be accessing schools.
This is a call to the government and the development partners to step up the mitigation measures so that we can avoid these atrocities forever.
Paddy Bakengana, Clean Energy and Climate Action Advocate
