Prime
Islanders accuse govt of neglect after hippos kill 50 in two years
Residents at Bussi Island in a sit-down strike on December 9 after UWA failed to come to their rescue even as Hippos continue to kill especially fishermen with the latest incident in the area on December 5. PHOTO/JOSEPH KIGGUNDU
What you need to know:
- UWA assured that the Stand-by Animal Capture team will soon visit the area and sensitise residents on how to co-exist with the animals.
Residents on the shores of Lake Victoria in Wakiso District have accused the government of ignoring their plight after hippopotamuses killed over 50 people in the last two years.
In the past two years, authorities say at least 50 people have been killed by marauding hippos.
“We have on several occasions complained to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to help capture the hippos but no response,” Mr Suleiman Ssenkubuge Musoke, Bussi Island Councilor to Wakiso District said during an interview on Friday.
The most affected islands are Bussi, Kikyunsa, Kituffu, Zinga and Kanvenyanja.
Bussi Sub-county chairperson Mr Charles Mukalazi also said the hippos have also killed hundreds of domestic animals, and also destroyed several acres of crops over the years.
“We’re planning to have a meeting to decide whether to kill the hippos or leave them because they are a permanent threat to the community,” he said.
He added: “We cannot sit back and watch as wild animals continue to kill our people.”
Fishermen are now advised to avoid their work at night “due to high risks in the waters.”
Mr Matia Lwanga Bwanika who is the Wakiso District chairperson said local leaders in the affected areas have petitioned his office for action.
“We’re going to write to UWA to see how we can jointly solve that problem,” Mr Bwanika told this publication.
Aware of the issue, Mr Bashir Hangi the communications manager at UWA assured that the Stand-by Animal Capture team will soon visit the area and sensitise residents on how to co-exist with the animals.
“If our experts find it necessary, we will relocate the animals to save the lives of residents,” Mr Hangi said .
Most dangerous
Conservationists say hippos are Africa’s most –dangerous large game, and they kill more people every year than other predators like crocodiles and lions.
For several years, stray hippos have attacked communities especially around water bodies and devastated human lives, livestock and agricultural works across the country. This has sparked off food scarcity and poverty in the affected communities.
On April 27 ,2021, a group of hippos hit a boat which was carrying six people ,but the occupants luckily survived after swimming towards the shores and climbed trees at the nearby Kyanjasi Zone in Gulwe Parish, Bussi Island .
In August 2018, seven people were killed by hippos while in their gardens in Bussi Island. In September the same year, hippos killed one person at the same island. In the same month, two fishermen drowned in the water near Bussi Island after their boat was hit by hippos.
