Govt relocates landslide victims in third phase

When landslides occurred in early October last year in Bunanzushi Parish, Bulucheke Sub-county in Bududa District, Ms Anna Nekesa, and her family sought refuge at a nearby Bumwalye Primary School.
They shared a classroom with five other families until  January10 when the school administration told them to vacate so as to allow reopening.
“We were thrown out of the school despite the fact that we had nowhere to go. It has been tough since then because our house and everything else we had as family was destroyed by the landslides,” Ms Nekesa said.

Ms Nekesa is one of the  200 survivors, who sought shelter at the school. The victims were displaced by a landslide, which  destroyed crops and houses.
Last Friday, Ms Nekesa said she was relieved that she would be relocated to Bulambuli, adding that God had answered her prayers.
“Deep in the night when my husband and children are asleep, I would wake  up and pray to my God to have mercy on us,” she said.
Officials from the Office of Prime Minister ( OPM) say in this phase, they would relocate  only 22 households from various districts in Bugisu Sub-region and 11  households from Bududa.

Local leaders, however, say more people should be relocated following the emerging cracks.
Mr Francis Nampoli, the Bundesi Sub-county chairperson, said government should compensate people so that they can resettle themselves  in their respective districts.
“But if it’s not interested in compensating people to resettle themselves, they should allocate enough funding to build houses and relocate our people in big numbers,”  Mr Nampoli said.

The government started the relocation and resettlement of landslide victims to Bunambutye in 2019 after  the Office of the Prime Minister bought more than 2,800 acres of land in 2013.
About 261 families have so far been resettled in the camp in two phases which include May 2019 and February 2020.
Mr Sam Mafabi, another landslide survivor, who was relocated to Bunambutye, said although they are happy, they feel sorry for their relatives who  are still homeless.
“The government should do more to relocate our relatives to safe places now that rains are about to come,” he said.
Mr Mafabi’s family and others relocated to Bunambutye are each given  a two-bedroom house sitting on an acre of land, with another two acres for agriculture.

“The soils here support growing  of crops like onions, cabbages, bananas like it is in Nametsi in Bududa,” Mr Job Wanasolo, who was relocated to the camp two years ago, said.
The Bududa District vice chairperson, Ms  Racheal Nabulo, said government should expedite the relocation and resettlement of landslide survivors to Bunambutye.
“We don’t want to see  cases where the displaced victims go back and start living in landslide-prone areas because they have no option,” Ms Nabulo said.

Mr Titus Muhofa, the senior disaster management officer in the OPM, said the exercise to relocate people at risk of landslides in Mt Elgon region is a gradual process.
“In every phase, we build houses and relocate people. In this third phase, we are relocating 22 households,” he said.
Mr Muhofa said close to 100,000 people are at risk of landslides in Mt Elgon region but they cannot do much due to resource constraints.

“The first phase we built 140 houses but the number of houses has been reduced due to Covid-9, which has affected the resource basket,” he said.
On the issue of relocating people within Bududa District, Mr Muhofa said there is not enough land in the district. “They do not have the land to sell to the government. They are talking because it’s easy but practically there is no land,” he said.

Background 

In June 2019, a landslide occurred in Buwali Sub-county, leaving five people dead and more than 400 displaced in Bududa. 
In October 2018, 42 people were reportedly killed and more than 500 people displaced in Suume Village in Bukalasi Sub-county in Bududa. 
In August 2017, landslides hit Bufupa Parish in Sironko District, killing seven people and displacing hundreds. 
In June 2012, another landslide occurred in Namaga and Bunakasala villages in Bumwalukani Sub-county in Bududa, leaving about 450 people dead and property destroyed.