Written by Catherine Ntabadde
By Jacqueline Zawedde
Nalongo Shadia Nabukeera has a wide grin on her face. The sorrow and agony which had previously weighed down on her has all faded. Finally Uganda’s leading humanitarian agency has come to her aid after she lost her house and property to floods and torrential rains which swept them away. The Uganda Red Cross Society has brought back the hope that this old lady had long lost.
Nabukeera is one of the 700 residents of Bwaise, a Kampala suburb, who were left homeless after floods destroyed houses and property in the zones of Kamalimali, Bokasa, Mayinja and Nsooba-Lubigi channel on 25th and 26th April. 404 households were affected.
The Uganda Red Cross Society conducted an assessment of the situation and on 11th May, distributed essential household items amounting to 25 Million to the affected households. Each household received three blankets, soap, five cups and plates and two Jerrycans. The residents, who assembled at Bilal Mosque to receive the items, said that they are now living with friends or relatives after their houses were filled with water or completely washed away.
The Chairperson URCS Kampala North Branch Mrs. Alice Ndidde, officiated on the function. She urged the residents to heed to the authority’s warning and vacate the area to enable construction of a new channel which was being implemented by the government. “We as Red Cross can only come to your aid as long as we can. You need to help yourselves by moving away from wetlands and practicing good hygiene so that you don’t have to wait for humanitarian aid all the time”, she said.
The URCS Kampala North Focal Person Julius Ssemanda said URCS is continuing with the assessments within the area because many more people were affected although the priority was given to those who had lost every thing. “Over 3000 people were affected but we have decided to give priority to these 700 because they were gravely affected”, he said.
Meanwhile the government has budgeted Sh3bn to pay off the residents within the channel to pave way for the construction of a new channel. Construction will start in June 2011. This was disclosed by the outgoing Kawempe Division Chairman, Haji Nasser Takuba.