More than 250 families living in camps after they were displaced by floods in 2022 in Bunyala are calling on the government for urgent intervention as the rainy season commences.
Since floods handicapped them more than three years ago and they now depend on government and NGO humanitarian assistance, which do not support them for long, the families have complained about the high living expense in the camp.
Speaking at Budalangi Primary School during the Busia Women Representative Ms Catherin Omanyo's visit to offer second-chance bursaries to the underprivileged.
And teenage mothers in the county under NGAF now want the government to give the construction of dams in Budalangi priority to address recurring floods.
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They encouraged the county and national government disaster committee, under the leadership of Mr Godfrey Wanjala, a victim of the Bunyala floods, to refrain from playing mind games during floods by giving affected families measures that amounted to painkillers for flood difficulties rather than coming up with a long-term solution.
“We only feel the presence of the government when the situation is worse, we are tired of blankets and relief food, we need a permanent solution. We moved here three years ago and it appears that we have been completely forgotten,” he added.
The worst hit were families from the Bunyala South location and Rukala Location. Musoma primary school and Mau Mau market, which had started recovering from havoc, will likely again be overrun by floods.
Flood victims camps where over 250 families call home include Membee, Bunyala, Budala, Rukala, Khadundu, Igigo and Runyu.
Most families here depend on 90 per cent on fishing and sand harvesting, the job that has given them more life risks and challenges they face from the lake, including harassment from Uganda policemen in the lake.
