Katogo wetland Residents seek gov't intervention after floods displaced thousands.

Residents of Katogo Village Ggaba in Makindye Division a suburb in Kampala have requested government to help them with relief items and mosquitoes net to help them survive after being hit by floods which forced many to abandon their homes.

According to some of the residents led by Hamidu Mubiru the defence secretary, the village which is located in the wetland of Ggaba was hit by the rising of waters from Lake Victoria affected a number of households, schools among others and many up to now are homeless asking for government intervention.

They say ever since they were hit with floods many of the resident have suffering from waterborne diseases including malaria and cannot afford medication given the slum nature of their area.

Kiwanuka Moses one of the resident has stayed in this swampy areas for 15 years, says when floods hit them destroyed all his rooms some for renting and a house where he staying after making a platform and sleeps on top of the water.

We implore government to help with some soil to pour inside our rooms to build another foundation for houses because we can’t leave this area since it belongs to us says Kiwanuka.

Katogo village is located 10Kms in the western province of Kampala Surrounded by big mansions in Munyonyo and Kansanga but most of the households in this areas are submerged in water which compelled the National Environment Management Authority NEMA to issue an eviction order to resident to vacate this wetland which was welcomed with resistance from the residents and threatened to leave until given an alternative settlement.

Initially the village had more 4000 residents but over 2000 migrated due to floods but those remained are requesting the  government to provide them with social services like schools and hospitals since the private schools they had were washed by floods which left many school going children with no option for education once schools are reopened.

Environmentalists led by World Wide Fund for Nature WWF have always partnered with different stakeholders to engage the public on how best they can stop activities that degrade the environment and we are yet to see the fruits of such engagements.

Similarly human activities is one of the key driver for biodiversity loss in our country given the fact that wetland settlements are on the rise.