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Bududa mudslide victims fight for relief, force distributors to flee
Distributors were forced to flee when chaos broke out
Residents of Bukalasi Sub County, Bududa district, this week went out of control and fought for relief items that had been taken to them.
They stormed serving points and disorganized everything, forcing distributors to flee. The items, which included clothes, food, soap and cooking oil were a contribution to victims of mudslides from the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). Mudslides last month claimed over 52 lives in Bukalasi and left hundreds homeless.
When the university heard that the distribution of its earlier donations was not well managed, a team of distributors, led by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Rehema Kantono, was dispatched to give the items directly to the intended recipients. Although some residents were happy with the direct involvement of the university, their reaction did not please the distributors.
Distributor narrates Hafsa Alado Ozombo, a student of Mass Communication, said she was squeezed and forced to run away. “People stormed the distribution point and started to take by force whatever they wanted. I tried to calm them down but in vein. I was forced to release whatever I was holding and run away,” Ozombo said. Some residents said that it was not new for people to fight for relief. “Today you are lucky that they didn’t even beat you people.
These people are like that. They fight for the relief even when they know it is for them,” one resident said. Speaking on IUIU FM, the university’s radio station, Kantono condemned the actions of the mudslide victims. Some residents, however, said that the direct distribution by IUIU was better compared to when the distribution responsibility was left to local leaders.
Simon Wamoto, a resident of Kyisambu village said: “Whenever relief is given to the local leaders the distribution is not fair. They first sort out the good things for themselves and give us the rest. George Wamara, another resident of the same village added: “They just throw the items as if they are throwing to pigs. You have to fight to get anything.
Whoever does not have energy does not get anything.” Rakai Inferno; What happened to School inspectors? On November 12, Ugandans woke up to shocking news about the death of 11 innocent souls in an inferno at St. Bernard Secondary School Manya, one of the best catholic-supported schools in the region.
Initial investigations by security agencies indicate that the school’s administrators defied instructions by the police to remove burglar proofing from the windows in order to enhance the safety of students in the dormitories.
A lot has been said about the laxity of the school’s administration when it allegedly ignored dangerous signs about an impending danger. But little has been said about the persistent failure by the Ministry of Education and Sports to supervise schools through inspectors.
The death of 11 innocent children in the inferno should be a wake-up call to the politicians and technocrats in the ministry to revive its inspectorate department. There is a lot of rot in our education system hidden behind the high walls and fences of schools.
These range from irregular fees, poor feeding, congested accommodation and numerous other crimes that are committed by school proprietors and management in the absence of the custodians of the sector.
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