Thousands Displaced As Lake Victoria Water Levels Rise Again

Water levels have begun to rise again along the borders of Lake Victoria in Masaka District, displacing hundreds of inhabitants.
Residents of Namirembe Landing Site in Kyanamukaaka Sub-county have been the hardest hit so far, with numerous homes swamped in water.
In the last five days, many household furnishings and retail items have been destroyed at the landing sites, and many inhabitants have migrated to Buyaga, a nearby village.

Those who have remained behind, according to Mr George Kiwanuka, the landing site chairperson, are at high risk of getting water-borne diseases such as cholera, because all of the pit latrines have been inundated, dumping human waste directly into homes.

Floods have already shut off the single route connecting Namirembe to the rest of the country, paralyzing transportation.

Mr Kiwanuka said in an interview on Wednesday that “we are now utilizing boats to migrate from one spot to another,” adding that “the school term started on Monday, but our children cannot attend school.”
Residents spend between Shs1,000 and Shs2,000 for a single boat voyage to connect to other settlements, according to him.
Ms Proscovia Namutaawe, who owns a hair shop near the landing site, said the majority of her things, such as weaves, were ruined by the water and urged the government to intervene quickly.

“We wonder if we have leaders here; we’ve been in this situation since the beginning of the month, but no one has come to give us hope; while they were campaigning for votes, they promised us heaven.”

She claimed that some residents had already contracted malaria and urged the government to provide them with mosquito nets. The rising water levels, according to Masaka District Chairperson Andrew Lukyamuzi Batemyetto, are due to heavy rain in the last three weeks.
“We sympathize with the flood victims, but we don’t have the funds to relocate them as a district.” “We are pleading with the government to act before things spiral out of control,” he said.

Mr Richard Ssebamala, the Bukoto Central district Member of Parliament, said he had already called relevant government agencies to intercede.

“I wrote to the Ministry of Works about the floods myself, and they answered positively; a team of engineers came and surveyed the flooded road, and they are waiting for culverts to restore it,” Mr Ssebamala said in a telephone conversation.
Background
When Lake Victoria’s high water levels wrecked havoc in 2020, displacing thousands of people who were occupying the lake beaches and several islands, Namirembe Landing Site was one of many fishing towns affected. As they awaited official resettlement, the victims were temporarily accommodated in improvised dwellings on the mainland. Hundreds of victims in several areas such as Wakiso, Mukono, Jinja, Buikwe, Kalangala, and Buvuma returned to their homes before the government fulfilled its promised resettlement plan.