Two more siblings drown in Bukomasimbi valley dam

Residents of Kasenyi Village in Kigangazzi Town Council, Bukomansimbi District are engulfed in grief after two siblings drowned in a valley dam.
The deceased Brian Nsereko, 10 and his brother Pius Ssevume, 8 were in Primary Three and Primary Two respectively.

Ms Josephine Namatovu, the deceased's mother said when her children returned from school at around 6pm on Tuesday, she asked them to go and fetch water from the valley dam, not knowing it would be her last day to see them alive. 

"I asked them to first eat food and then get some water for domestic use during the night, which they did. I wish I had known that they would die, I would not allow them to go there," a sobbing Namatovu said. 
The deceased’s father, Mr Yuda Ssevume, said he was from work when he met his sons on the way going to fetch water, but expressed fear because it was late. 
"It was approaching 7pm and thought of stopping them, but I decided to leave them since we needed water for use," Mr Ssevume said. 

Moments later, he received the news of his children's death from a friend who visited his home asking about the kids. 
"A friend told me he had seen my son's shirt floating on water and when I tried to look around to establish whether they had returned from the dam I couldn’t see them. I ran towards the dam and saw the body of my 10- year- old boy floating. The body of the younger one was still sunk. It was until the police team intervened and retrieved it,” Mr Ssevume added. 

Mr Ssevume said they do not have any other water source around and that is why all residents fetch water from the dam. 
"The two nearby boreholes have not been working for two years. Authorities should consider refurbishing them if we are to avoid such tragedies from happening again," Mr Ssevume added. 

This is the second pair of siblings to drown in a dam within the district in less than three months. On December 23,2022, two sisters drowned in Namaliga Dam in Bukomansimbi District. 
The deceased were identified as Bridget Namuyanja,16, and Gertrude Nanyonjo,8. 
Mr Peter Nyanzi, the Kasenyi Village secretary, said  last year, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mr Ronald Gyagenda Ssegawa inspected all the dams within the district and promised to fence them off. 

"We have been waiting for this [fencing off the dams] in vain. Our children will continue dying in this manner since the government has failed to fulfill its promise," Mr Nyanzi said. 
Bukomansimbi Deputy RDC, Mr  Fred Kalema Pax ,said  he had directed the Chief Administration Officer, Mr Peter Ruhweezi to rehabilitate the two dams.
“I am going to follow up with the Ministry of Agriculture to see how far they have gone with fencing the dams,” he said.