How River Rwizi bridge has claimed four lives in a week

On Monday, Police at Mbarara Central Police Station retrieved the body of a 34-year-old man, which was found floating in River Rwizi.
The deceased, identified as Kurineriyo Garamba, a wheelbarrow pusher at Mbarara Central Market, and a resident of Kitobero Cell in Nyamitanga Ward, Mbarara City South Division, had reportedly gone missing for a week.
According to friends and relatives, the deceased drowned in the river after falling from a temporary medium-height bridge connecting Kitobero and Taso villages.
The deceased’s acquaintance, Mr Tom Salongo, shares how he disappeared last Monday, until his body was found floating on River Rwizi.
“He was a responsible citizen who interacted freely with everyone,” he said.
According to residents, Kurineriyo is the fourth person to drown following a fall from a bridge into River Rwizi in a space of one week.
The incident comes a few days after an 11-year-old girl, a Primary One pupil at Ntare Junior Primary School in Nyakaizi Cell Kakoba, drowned in the river while trying to cross the bridge from Karugangama to Kakoba Nyakaizi on her way to school.
Her body was found floating on the water after a four-day search.
“We have retrieved at least four bodies from this river in a space of one week due to intensifying rains that have washed away our bridges. Just last Saturday, we retrieved the body of an unidentified man, yesterday I saw another body floating on water,” Mr Salongo said on Monday.
Mr Salongo appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, construct the broken bridges to avert more deaths.
Mr Steven Muhwezi says Kitobero Bridge, which broke down in April, has become a death trap yet no efforts have been put in place by city authorities to construct it.
“Locals use boats as an alternative to access town via Nyamitanga, which is far and costly for us the hawkers and the wheelbarrow pushers,” he said.
 
Relatives speak out
Mr Yosam Atwebembire, the late Kurineheyo’s brother-in-law, described him as a resilient and hard worker who has been in the occupation for six years.
“We carried out a postmortem and doctors found that the deceased’s cause of death was suffocation after drowning. He was crossing Taso Village Bridge heading to Nyamitanga from Mbarara City. I think if the bridge was in good shape he would have crossed successfully,” Mr Atwebembire said.

Kurineriyo was buried in Katoma village, Kicwamba parish, Ruhinda Sub-county in Rukungiri District.
Ms Hajjara Kyogabirwe, a resident of Karugangama cell, mother of Fatuma Nabukenya whose body was retrieved from water last Friday, says her daughter was returning from school when she crossed the bridge at around 5pm.  

 “Our leaders should work on the bridge before we all perish in that river, they keep making empty promises,” she said.
Ms Allen Atuhaire, the head teacher of Ntare Junior School,  says the bridge has become a death trap to both pupils and residents.

“When April rains washed away Kanyeyite Bridge, our pupils who used to cross the river started using boda bodas through Katete main bridge  to Kakoba for studies, parents who could not afford boda boda money enrolled them for the boarding section,” she said.
Ms Atuhaire added: “The issue of the bridge has disconnected locals from both ends, those in Karugangama find it hard to cross to access better services like education and appropriate medication.”

Affected population
Kanyite Bridge, according to  the chairman of Karugangama Cell, Mr Jaffari Mpiima, is a big threat to citizens’  lives.
“There are school-going children who cross from Karugangama to Kakoba for studies, whose lives are at stake. Pregnant women also find it hard to cross a temporary bridge,”

Mr Mpiima says Karugangama Cell has a population of 8,000 people and Katete Ward, which is the most affected area has a total population of 30,000 people.

Public awareness
The Rwizi Region Police Spokesperson, Mr Samson Kasasira, says since May, they have been advising people to be vigilant while crossing the River.

“As Security, we call upon the members of the public to be cautious, especially during the rainy season, after the river burst its banks, water levels have gone up. If they are to move or travel on the river, they should do it in a safe manner to avoid drowning,” he said.
“In May, we discovered five bodies from the river, who were suspected to have drowned but at the moment I don’t have a full report,”Mr Kasasira added.

The Mbarara City Town Clerk, Mr Assy Abireebe, says the city authorities are aware about the poor state of bridges but lack funds to construct them.
“We require a lot of money.  For instance, Katete Bridge requires at least Shs6 billion. We need Shs15 billion to work on Kanyeyite and Taso bridges, which we don’t have at the moment. We have worked on their designs and are now looking for funding,” he said.