Five Kasese schools closed as River Nyamwamba bursts banks

Five schools in Kilembe division, Kasese municipality, Kasese District in western Uganda were on Thursday closed temporarily and learners sent home after River Nyamwamba burst its banks.

The affected schools are Mt Rwenzori Girls Secondary School, Bulembia Primary School, Katiri Primary School, Roadbarrier Primary School and Kyanzuki Primary School.

All the affected schools are located within the Nyamwamba Valley which has previously suffered the devastating effects of overflowing River Nyamwamba.

Mr Boosi Serapio, the head teacher of Road Barrier Primary said they were compelled to ask pupils to stay home because the school is located just a few metres away from the river.

“From experience, we know that whenever the river floods, it normally crosses and sometimes surrounds the whole school. We have asked pupils to go home until the water volume returns to normalcy,” Mr Boosi said.

Boosi revealed that the government recently constructed some gabions along a stretch close to the school but they are too short to block the water.

According to him, the government needs to desilt the river so that it has enough bed to flood over without having to burst its banks.
“I am asking the government to desilt this river, otherwise it poses a threat to the lives of the learners given that the school is too close to the river,” he added.

Ms Caroline Ebyau, the head teacher Mt Rwenzori Girls Secondary School said they decided to send the learners back home as a precautionary measure.

“We know the havoc that river can cause when it floods,” she said.
There are at least 28 boarders at the school, she said. 

“The girls are not scared, but of course I can see it is raining so I don’t know what the night might be like. However, I am in school and together with the askari [security guard] if we think the security is getting worse, we will need to go to a higher ground,” she said Thursday.

The flooding river also swept away some gabions near the bridge connecting Rukoki to Kasese town.
River Mubuku also burst its banks sweeping away the temporary foot-bridges along that river.

Ms Mary Kyakimwa, a resident of Kisanga A says they are now living in fear following the flooding of the river.
“For now it has not entered our houses. We are also lucky that this has happened during the day, otherwise if it had happened at night, I don’t know where we would be,” said Kyakimwa.

Mr Richard Bomera, the chairperson Bulembia Division, has emphasised the need to expedite the desilting of river Nyamwamba and also construct strong gabions that can arrest the waters when the river attempts to flood.

“The only good thing is that the current premises of Kilembe Mines Hospital have not been affected, otherwise we decided that the schools close as a precautionary measure,” Mr Bomera said.