Flooded river disrupts transport, destroys crops

Residents wade through a flooded section of a road linking Kamira and Kikyusa sub-counties in Luweero District yesterday. Photo by Dan Wandera.

What you need to know:

The rains have made River Ssezibwa burst its banks, causing flooding in Kamira Sub-county.

Luweero

Several farmers have lost their gardens and transport disrupted after River Ssezibwa in Kamira Sub-county, Luweero District burst its banks causing floods.

Kamira Sub-county chairperson Livingstone Kategaya said the floods have swept through villages of Matembe, Bukiibi and Katagwe where several gardens have been washed away and making roads impassable.

The floods have been a result of rains that have swept through several parts of the country since the beginning of last month. “We cannot control the flooding which has swept through a number of villages”, Mr Kategaya told Daily Monitor on Sunday.

Mr Musisi Lugemwa, the Sub-county youth Councillor and secretary for works at Kamira Sub-county said the floods could be disastrous and could bring cause diseases and hunger.

The rains could continue throughout September, according to data from the Metrological department in Entebbe. “The farmers have lost much of their maize, which is due for harvest and newly planted crops have been washed away,” Mr Lugemwa added.

Other parts affected include Kigegyo village and Kalongo Sub-county in Nakasongola District where foods have destroyed several gardens and have made some roads impassable.

In Katagwe and Keera villages, local leaders claim floods could have swept away more than 12 acres of maize gardens belonging to four farmers.

More than seven acres of cassava, beans and maize have been destroyed in Bukiibi and Matembe villages, according to Mr Lugemwa, the youth councillor for Kamira Sub-county.