The situation in Kasese District, located in Western Uganda at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains, had become a poignant example of the grim choice between desperation and immediate danger. Following a series of devastating floods and mudslides over the last few years, particularly the deadly mudslide that struck Kasika Village in Rukoki Sub- County in September 2022 (claiming at least 16 lives and displacing hundreds), many victims had been forced to return to the very areas officially declared as high-risk “red zones.”
The Tragedy and Initial Displacement
Kasese had Longley been highly vulnerable to these recurrent disasters, with major rivers like Nyamwamba, Mubuku, and Lhubiriha frequently bursting their banks. The 2022 Kasika disaster, coupled with earlier major flooding events like those in May 2020, led to the displacement of thousands of residents. They were moved to temporary shelters, such as the Muhokya Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp and temporary sites like Kanone Primary School.
Driven Back by Desperation
The primary factor driving the victims back to their ancestral, disaster-prone land was the unbearable living conditions in the temporary camps and the government’s perceived failure to deliver on promises of permanent resettlement.
- Inhumane Camp Conditions: Residents described the camps as places of continuous misery. Shelters were often makeshift, leaking during rains. Camps were overcrowded, and essential services were critically lacking, leading to poor sanitation, water scarcity, and a high incidence of diseases, especially among children.
- Lack of Livelihood: Many of the displaced communities, who relied on agriculture, found themselves without land to cultivate while in the camps. This created a greater risk to their overall well-being—the risk of starvation and disease—than the immediate geological danger of the mudslides. As one resident put it, “Our lives were at more risk in the camp.”
- Unfulfilled Promises: Victim’s report having waited in vain for years for the government to fulfill promises, included one of up to Shs17 million (Ugandan Shillings) per household to enable them to purchase new, safer land. The lack of clarity and the long waiting period had exhausted their hope and patience.
The Current Predicament
Hundreds of families, included those from Kasika and others who had been in Muhokya IDP camp since 2020, have reoccupied their former land. Local leaders acknowledge that the return was not due to a sense of safety but to desperation. They were fully aware they were living on a “ticking time bomb,” with one district official noting that at least 62 lives had been lost since 2013, warning that the areas remained high-risk. The overall situation highlights were critical humanitarian and governmental failure, where the immediate threat of poverty and poor living standards had overshadowed the long-term, life-threatening danger posed by nature.
