Africa-Press – Uganda. Floods and attacks from Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels dominated the Rwenzori Sub-region’s news cycle in 2022.
Landslides and floods claimed tens of lives while displacing hundreds more. Roads and bridges in the Sub-region were rendered unusable in the districts of Kasese, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko and parts of Kyegegwa.
In Kasese, 16 lives were lost in what was termed as valley of death on September 7 after a landslide tore through Kasika Trading Centre. Mr Christopher Masereka, one of the affected residents, said he lost his wife, two children and a two-year-old grandson.
While River Nyamwamba didn’t burst its banks this time round, other small river streams didn’t spare residents.
Unlike other years, this time River Nyamwamba did not flood as flooding was occurring on other small river streams. On August 29, Arnold Bwambale, a student at Rwenzori Christian Vocational Secondary School in Kasese, and Moses Masereka Syapa, also a resident of Kyangumirya, were killed by surface runoff.
The infrastructure was not spared. On September 5, bridges on rivers Nyakighoma, Ntotoro, Ngomekome, Mbule, Ngite, and Nyabughesera in the sub-counties of Mabere, Ngamba, Ntandi, Ngite, and Ntotoro, were all washed away after a downpour.
Other roads and bridges that were washed away include; Hakitara-Busuba (5.5km), Bundikuyali-Hakitara road (3.6km), Hakitara-Kanyate road (2.5km), Bundiwerume-Mbango-Humya road (4km), Tokwe-Hakitara-Bundimwendi road (6km), Kinyakende-Ntome road (4km), Busaru-Bunyakakindo road (3km), and Harugale-Buhundu road (3km).
It was not just mother nature that left residents in the sub-region running scared. The operation Shujaa conducted by the UPDF and Congolese army (FARDC) to flush out ADF rebels had spillover effects that affected Bundibugyo in January. This was after hundreds of Congolese refugees sought sanctuary in the country.
When the ADF rebels recently tried to set up shop in the forests of Ntoroko, three people from Bweramule Sub-county became collateral damage after the UPDF’s 8th Mountain Division battalion sprung to action. There has also been an attendant effect of a growing refugee problem in the district.
Mr William Kasoro, the district chairman, told Sunday Monitor that as many as 7,000 people from Bweramule Sub-county alone have been displaced.
Another 1,000 people from the neighbouring sub-county of Butungama and Kibuuku Town Council have also been displaced. The most affected villages include Kayaja 1, Kiringa, Kyobe, Kyapa, Bweramule, Kaitampara, Kyagabukama, Karugaju, Rukora A, B, and C.
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