Gov’t yet to decide on resettling Kasese flood victims

Kasese, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The government is yet to decide when the flood victims in Kasese District will be permanently resettled. 

In December, the Office of the Prime Minister together with Kasese district local government decided to temporarily relocate all the 289 displaced households spread across the district on Muhokya government land. It followed the displacement of more than 1,400 people after major rivers in the district burst their banks. 

The Assistant Commissioner Disaster Preparedness Office of the Prime Minister Gerald Menhya says the government has not yet given guidance on permanent resettle plans for the flood victims. 

Menhya was on Tuesday meeting the district disaster management committee at Rukoki district headquarters in Kasese town. 

But Menhya says the OPM’s office has no valid answer at the moment on when the victims will be permanently resettled despite continuous concerns from the local leaders.

However, the commissioner advised the district leaders to put in place a committee that will assess the areas and establish if they can still be habitable.  He says the report will help the ministry to make recommendations to the government.

The Kasese District CAO Hamis Asuman Masereka called on the government to plan for school going children in the camp as they plan on re-opening. 

He says Muhokya Sub County has no government secondary school and the only primary school has limited space to handle large numbers. 

Susan Burungi working with UNICEF challenged the government to make studies on the weather patterns in the region to establish the cause of the disasters. Burungi also asked the government to re-establish the de-silting of rivers in the district. 

In the past, district leaders have constantly asked the government to provide land that can permanently accommodate the affected persons on grounds that they cannot sustainably provide them food and other services.

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