With heavy rains threatening to unleash landslides and floods in Bugisu Sub-region, the government is racing against time to relocate families in high-risk areas.
Several ministers led by the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja, are currently camped in Bugisu on the orders of President Museveni to oversee the relocation of families living in landslide-prone areas, especially in the districts of Namisindwa, Bududa, Bulambuli and Sironko.
However, as the resettlement drive, which was launched in Namisindwa last week gathers pace, the verification exercises has revealed ghost beneficiaries, inflated figures and cases of extortion of money allegedly by the Gombolola Internal Security Officers (Gisos), who were reportedly the enumerators in charge of the registration process.
The new resettlement package initiative will see households in landslide-prone areas receive Shs18m each to facilitate their relocation to safer areas before the end of this year, much as it is also facing other impediments, including unwillingness by the beneficiaries to vacate.
Some beneficiaries in some high-risk areas like in Bududa and parts of Namisindwa have expressed reservations, citing cultural attachments on aspects such as circumcision, burial grounds, fate of their agricultural land and inadequacy of money. But in some places like in Bulucheke Sub-county in Bududa, there are people willing to receive the resettlement package.
The relocation plan
Government has put aside about Shs43b to relocate about 8,700 families currently living in landslide prone areas in the Bugisu Sub-region, according to an assessment carried out by the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Ms Nabbanja, while addressing journalists on Saturday after the field visit in Bududa District, decried the penetration of ineligible people/beneficiaries on the list.
‘Some people are not in high-risk areas but are on the list. Others paid to get their way on the lists and others were put by Gisos. We will deal with them,’ Ms Nabbanja said, adding that the number of the beneficiaries had been inflated to 13,000 families, but after the verification exercise, it is now about 8,000 families.
She further said some people are not willing to relocate because they have cultural attachments to their ancestral places.
‘I am writing a paper to the President to give us advice because some of the people have graves in front of their houses. For example, I met a 83-year-old woman while climbing a cliff and she told me, her father and husband have lived on the land for decades and have never had a threat of landslides.’
On the issue of little pay, the Prime Minister insisted that the money might not be commensurate with the chuck of land and other property one owns, but it’s enough to support a family to find a home away from the threat of landslides.
‘The beneficiary households are encouraged to vacate landslide-prone areas immediately after receiving the resettlement package. This time, nobody will be allowed to resettle back. However, they will be allowed a grace period until December 31 to harvest their produce,’ she said.
Ms Nabbanja said the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) will take over the land vacated by the beneficiary households for integration into Mt Elgon National Park.
‘The homes of beneficiary households shall be demolished by UWA in collaboration with other security agencies upon a beneficiary receiving the Shs18m resettlement package,’ she said.
Ms Nabbanja warned that the government will compel residents who refuse to relocate move from high-risk areas, arguing that authorities cannot continue allowing people to remain in locations that threaten their lives.
Taking stock of past efforts
Relocation efforts in the region have for long faced challenges. Following the deadly 2010 landslide, hundreds of families moved from the Mt Elgon area to Kiryandongo District.
However, some later returned to their former homes, citing difficulties associated with resettlement and sustaining their livelihood.
Later, the government acquired about 2,800 acres of land in 2013 in Bunambutye Sub-county in Bulambuli District, where it has resettled households at high-risk of landslides.
Since 2024, 1,106 households have been resettled in Bunambutye Resettlement Camp, with an estimated total number of 5,530 people resettled in the first phases and allocated constructed houses and two acres of land to each household.
However, leaders kept saying the resettlement was too slow even after government last year acquired another 1,318 acres of land in Girik, including plots 756, 757, and 805 to resettle more households.
Dr Davis Mwenyi, the Commissioner for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Management, said: ‘That is why we moved away from giving people land because people don’t want to stay away from their homelands. Its better to give them money and they relocate themselves.’
Mr Mwenyi explained that registration of the beneficiaries was done by the Gisos under the office of the resident district commissioners.
The decision of cash payments was reached during an emergency meeting chaired by Ms Nabbanja with leaders from Bugisu, including Members of Parliament at her office in Kampala last week.
The meeting followed a Cabinet meeting held on October 5, where President Museveni directed the Prime Minister to resettle the people immediately.
Residents speak out
However, Mr Zephaniah Mayeku, a resident of Mutukuya Village in Buwere Parish, Bupoto Sub-county in Namisindwa, questioned how a household with more than 10 children can purchase land, construct a house and relocate with financial support of only Shs18m.
He said the beneficiary families need sufficient time to establish themselves in safer locations before leaving their current homes.
‘The Shs18m package may not adequately cover relocation costs and the loss of agricultural investments.
For instance, my land contains coffee and other crops that support my family. Can that money help me reestablish a new home and all these projects?’ he said.
Similarly, Mr Bosco Wanabwa, a resident of Nabisakala in Buneboshi Parish, Busiriwa Sub-county in Bududa, also raised concerns about the fate of their agricultural plantations after relocation.
Mr Wanabwa said his two acres of land contain coffee and other crops that help him pay his children’s school fees.
‘I ask the government to allow us to continue harvesting our crops after relocating,’ he said.
Despite the concerns, some residents support the programme.
Mr Richard Mukwana, a resident of Mutukuya in Namisindwa District, said he is ready to use the Shs18m package to acquire land in a safer location.
Mr Mukwana said cracks have developed in the area where he lives, making relocation an important step towards protecting his family.
Mr Fred Watira, another resident, said strong winds had previously destroyed his house and he is ready to relocate to a safer area.
The Woman MP for Mbale City, Ms Lydia Wanyoto, said the government’s immediate priority is to save lives, given the history of landslides in the Mt Elgon region.
‘The scientists have told us that Mt Elgon area is at the highest risk because it has a component of life. So, crop production and livestock are all important, but the government has prioritised life,’ she said.
Ms Wanyoto, who is Minister of State for Public Service , said some families are hesitant to leave because of their attachment to circumcision rites and burial grounds in high-risk areas.
‘They are also talking about their land because every homestead has a different size of land, but we have told them let us first save lives,’ Ms Wanyoto said.
Bududa District Chairperson Geoffrey Natubu urged residents in high-risk areas to embrace the programme, noting that landslides continue to threaten lives and property in the area.
‘Relocating people to a safer area is the preferable option because in a high-risk location, families face the possibility of losing their lives,’ Mr Natubu, said.
The Bubulo East MP, Mr John Musila, said its common in Bugisu to experience disasters after a dry spell.