It was survival for the fittest in killer boat - survivors

Residents anxiously wait on the shore of Lake Albert at Kitebere landing site on March 23 as Ugandan police struggled to retrieve bodies from the lake. AFP photo 

Sunday, March 30 2014 at  02:00 Web link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/It-was-survival-for-the-fittest-in-killer-boat---survivors/-/689844/2262464/-/13vhvljz/-/index.html

By Felix Basiime

& Ruth Katusabe

In Summary

Death in water. Some survivors say the boat meant to carry 50 people carried 150. Others say a child who saw a big snake alarmed, causing a stampede on board and eventual capsizing of the boat, while other accounts indicate that the boat failed to start several metres after takeoff. Sunday Monitor’s Felix Basiime & Ruth Katusabe digs deep into the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Ms Leya Nkabukemba, 25, is admitted to Bubukwanga Health CentreI II in Bundibugyo District.
“I am feeling a lot of pain all over my body. All my limbs are paining in the joints because of long hours of swimming which I was not used to,” she says.

Nkabukemba is one of the 45 survivors who narrowly escaped death when a boat they were travelling in on Lake Albert capsized last week, killing 109 people.

The more than 150 passengers were travelling from Senjojo landing site in Hoima District to Ntoroko District. They were allegedly escaping back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Nkabukemba and four others are receiving treatment at the health centre while 11 others are being counselled to overcome the trauma.

It is eight months since Nkabukemba fled her village, Budimu, Mulobia in Njiapanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with hundreds of other Congolese refugees and came to Uganda’s hilly Bundibugyo District.

They were fleeing fighting between suspected Allied Democratic Force (ADF) rebels and Congolese government soldiers.

Ms Nkabukemba and about 65,000 other refugees were first settled at Busunga in Bundibugyo District and then at Bubukwanga transit camp in Bundibugyo. Later, the Office of the Prime Minister settled them at Kyangwali refugee settlement camp in Hoima but most of them protested the move as they wanted to go back home.

Since then, Nkabukemba and other refugees have tried to escape from Kyangwali back to DRC until March 22 when a boat they were traveling in capsized near Kitebere landing site in Kibaale District. Police are still searching for more bodies.

Survival for the fittest
On the lake, it was survival for the fittest as everyone on the boat scampered for his or her dear life as the boat started to sink.

“It was a Thursday morning (March 20), when 10 of my relatives and I escaped from Kyangwali refugee camp (Hoima),” Nkabukemba narrates.

She adds: “We went to Malembo village (also in the refugee camp), spent a night at my mother in-law’s and left on Friday night to Senjojo landing site, ready to go back to Congo.”

According to the 25-year-old, it is almost free entry and exit at Kyangwali refugee camp that this situation made it easy for them to escape.

“At Senjojo landing site, we found there many other refugees and we spent a night there. At around 8am on Saturday, we lined up ready to board the boat. Police was there to receive our Refugee ration cards and they charged us Shs4,000 per person because it is illegal for refugees to escape and access boat and road services”.

She says each passenger was charged Shs15,000 for the luggage which they paid before they boarded and were to be charged Shs7,000 for transport per head which they were supposed to pay at the destination.

“After handing over our refugee cards to police, the boat crew started registering us on a paper and loaded our luggage first, the number on the list clocked 264 as the boat crew announced the number before we sat on top of our luggage,” Nkabukemba says.

Capacity of boat
However, the Ntoroko District Police Commander, Mr Bosco Bakashaba, said the boat had a capacity of 50 people.

Nkabukemba adds: “After boarding the boat, we spent an hour complaining that the boat was too overloaded but nobody could listen in the presence of police. The boat engine also took almost 30 minutes to start.”

“The boat moved on the water for more than 200 metres from the landing site but the engine had failed to start. We complained but the steward kept calming us down that he would sail us through to our destination. We remained panicky,” Nkabukemba says.

“When we had moved a longer distance on water, a young kid raised an alarm; he had seen a huge snake ahead of the boat which some of us saw.”

“Her mother gagged the kid to stop scaring others on the boat and in a few minutes, water started entering into the boat”.

It is believed at this point that the scampering of the passengers destabilised the already overloaded boat, forcing it to sink.

“We started collecting water from the boat using our basins and cups on the boat and pouring it in the lake but in a few minutes, the boat capsized and it sank and somersaulted five times, there were no life jackets and most of the people fell in water while others got hold of the boat firmly and that’s how some of us survived,” Nkabukemba says.

At this point, Nkabukemba says everyone was yelling for help and this was at around 10am.
She adds: “I am six months pregnant and I had three children on the same boat so I could not hold the boat any longer with my two children at the back so I swam with them to a nearby floating mattress, however, this could not help us as it overturned and I lost my children, one was 5 and another 7 years.”

Nkabukemba painfully narrates: “I kept holding the floating mattress for about an hour and our boat kept on being carried by the water waves. Later, another boat came driven by “fish guards” looking for the steward; they then called other boats from Kitebere and started to rescue us”.

“One of the rescue boats came for me, the rescuers found me swimming with my mattress until they pulled me to their boat.”

Zadoki Kosita, 13, also from Budimu in DRC, only survived by holding onto the boat firmly until the rescue team came later.

“Other adults who had held my limbs in an attempt to also get hold of the boat, later drowned and died as they failed to hold on,” Kosita says.

Ms Rose Nsone, 25, from Kahondo in Njiapanda in the DRC, says she was seated in the middle of the boat and she has a similar story as Nkabukemba.

“I don’t know how to swim and I kept holding the boat, but as it sank in the waters, I kept hold of my breath to survive until the rescue team arrived.”
Why escape from Kyangwali?

According to Nsone, the main reason for the attempted escape is hunger.

“The reason why we escaped the camp at Kyangwali is that we used to sleep hungry and at times spend the whole day without getting a meal,” Nsoni laments, adding: “We used to get three mugfuls of raw maize and bean seeds which we would mix and cook together (locally known as enjwangane)”

“Most of us have big families and cannot survive on the three mugfuls and this supply occurs once a month so we cater for ourselves. Those who have money in the camp buy rice from the nearby trading centres,” she narrates.

“We resolved that instead of suffering in Kyangwali, which is not our home country, we better go back to Congo and die from there” she says.

She adds that the health services at Kyangwali are very poor in that some refugees have died in the camp especially women and children. According to her, the camp has little drugs.

“The drugs are scarce in the camp and only available in private clinics around the camp but we can’t afford them as they are expensive for us,” Nsone says, adding: “The midwives mistreat pregnant women, especially when in labour pains and some of the refugee women have died at this stage”

The government has since denied claims that the refugees were fleeing as a result of hunger.
Other refugees claim that the weather in Hoima is warmer than in DR Congo and not favourable to them.

Why prefer water transport


According to Nkabukemba, by road it costs Shs40, 000 from Hoima to Fort Portal and connecting to Busunga border post in Bundibugyo at the Uganda-DRC border is another Shs17,000.

With this, the escaping refugees found road transport very expensive and preferred water transport. From Hoima to Ntoroko by water, they would spend Shs7,000 and from Ntoroko they would connect to Bundibugyo using lorries at Shs10,000 which they found cheaper.

But their dream of reaching their destination was painfully washed away in the lake.

ACCIDENTS ON LAKE ALBERT


About Lake Albert


Lake Albert, also known as Albert Nyanza and formerly Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, is one of the African great lakes. It is Africa’s seventh-largest lake, and the world’s twenty seventh largest lake by volume.

Lake Albert is located in the centre of the continent, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Lake Albert is the northernmost of the chain of lakes in the oil rich Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. It is about 160 km long and 30 km wide, with a maximum depth of 51 m, and a surface elevation of 619 m (2,030 ft) above sea level.

The few settlements along the shores include Butiaba and Pakwach.

Accidents on the lake
In December 2004, 22 people died when a boat they were travelling in capsized at Korokoto between Mahangi and Panyimur on Lake Albert.

In February 2004, 45 people died when their boat capsized on their way from Bugoigo in Buliisa District to Panyimur in Nebbi District.

In July 2003, 20 people drowned at Ruunga landing site when a canoe capsized. They were travelling from Panyimur to Bugoma in Hoima.

In September 2000, 41 people died when their boat sunk near Kayonga with over 100 bags of fish. The boat was travelling from Kijangi landing site in Hoima District to Panyimur market in Nebbi District.

In May 1998, 10 people drowned near Kanara landing site in Ntoroko District while sailing towards Kibaale district.

In 1997, 65 people died when the boat capsized on the way to Dei market in Nebbi from Butiaba in Masindi.

In August, 2010, about 70 people drowned in Lake Albert at night in a boat accident when a passenger boat sank. Over 50 people survived the accident.

Eyewitnesses said the boat had about 90 business persons and children, together with sacks and boxes of merchandise on board.

In February, 2010, four UPDF soldiers drowned in the water body.

The then officer in charge Kitebere Landing Site Police post, Mr Joseph Oyolo said the soldiers were returning from Ntoroko in Bundibugyo District where they had gone to collect their monthly salaries.
He attributed the accident to over-loading of the boat with bunches of matooke and maize flour.
In August 2010, 23 bodies were recovered from Lake Albert following a Saturday night boat accident at Kakoma in Runga village in Hoima District.

Police said although the boat had a capacity of 40 passengers, over 90 people were on board.
December 2012, 23 drown in the Lake when the boat was hit by a storm but most of them survived. They swam towards Nsonga landing site.

The Nsonga Beach Management Unit chairman, Mr Francis Mugema Kisembo, said the storm destroyed more than 30 houses at his landing site.

Turned into a sex slave by her parents in Kabarole

From the age of 13, Grace has continually been defiled by the man who has been paying her school fees. photo BY Ruth Katusabe 

Posted  Tuesday, March 18   2014 at  20:16 

By Ruth Katusabe and Felix Basiime

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Turned-into-a-sex-slave-by-her-parents/-/691232/2249260/-/q7lre8z/-/index.html)

In Summary

In a desperate attempt to make quick cash, Grace’s parents turned her into a money-making machine by pawning her to a rich man in the village. This is her story.

When I tell people that my parents have turned me into a sex slave yet I cannot report them to the police, they think it is a bad joke, but it is not. My name is Grace* and I am 18.

I live with my parents at Kyakagusa village, Kichwamba Sub-county in Kabarole District. Since my Primary Seven, my parents have made me earn my school fees by offering sex services to a 60-year-old rich man. That was five years ago.

The man (the defiler) is a family friend who used to pay visits to my parents when I was still young. We actually used to call him uncle, that is until 2009.

How it all started
One night, my parents asked me to escort him up to his home, which was half a kilometre away from our home.

It was strange because he drives, but I did not want to be disrespectful so I went with him. But when we reached his home, he drove past it and continued to Fort Portal Town, about 14km away.
He lied that we were going to visit a sick relative at the hospital before coming back. When we reached the town, he parked at one of the lodges along Malibo Road.

I asked the man why he was stopping at the lodge instead of the hospital, and that is when he said his patient was spending a night in one of the rooms.

I believed him and when he told me to follow him I did not think it was a trick. I only realised that when we entered the room and he locked it before defiling me.

The deal

I wanted to raise an alarm but the man warned me against it because he and my parents had agreement. He said my parents had received a lot of money from him and I had to repay it in instalments.

I could not believe that my parents had sold me just like that. He gave me something small wrapped in a paper, it resembled a white stone.

Before I could even ask what it was, he forced it in my mouth and ordered me to swallow it. He said if I ever rejected him, I would die.

He ordered me out of the room and said he needed to take me back home. He did not say anything on the way back.

When I reached the doorway, my father was shocked to see me. He said he had expected me to spend the whole night away.

And that is how the cycle of repaying the never ending debt began.
I started weaving mats for sale but my parents discouraged me claiming there was someone willing to pay my school fees until I completed Senior Four, so I did not have to “do anything”.

Visiting lodges became routine until when he started coming home to have sex. My parents would walk out and let this man to defile me in our own home.
Whenever I tried to protest, my parents would remind me that the man was “giving us” a lot of money.

The switch
In 2011, when I joined Senior One, my parents rented for me a small room in the neighbouring village. The old man turned this into his other home where he would come at will to have sex and provide what I did not have.

When I tried to complain about the man’s visits to my parents, they instead told me to stop being stupid so as not to “spoil my future”. When I was in Senior Two, I became pregnant and he hurriedly organised for an abortion because his image would be tarnished as he already had two wives.

The threats
I have so many questions that my parents are yet to answer. How much were they being paid that they were willing to sacrifice my life? Why didn’t they allow me to do casual jobs to raise school fees?
When I told them that I was going to report the matter to the authorities, my father said he would kill me.

With no support from my parents, I shared my plight with friends last year, but there was little they could do to help. The man did not want to see me with any male friends.
I remember when he once came to my room only to find me discussing school work with friends who included boys. He made a fuss and threatened to stop paying my school fees.

Freedom that never was
I thought he was joking, but he was not because this year he stopped paying my fees yet I was in a candidate class.

Although I was sad, I was happy at the same time because I knew there were no more sex demands. The funny thing is even when he cut back on his financial support, the sex has not stopped.

He comes during the day and when he does, my mother carries a jerry can pretending to go to the well while my father goes to the nearest trading centre, so this man can have his way with me.
What shocks me is when he is done, he calls my dad on phone to “come back home” because he is done.

With nothing to lose, I told the man I was going to tell his wives. He said if I dared, he would kill me and the look on his face showed he was serious.

I regret breaking up with the boy I loved because my parents had him arrested and fined Shs110,000.
Although he was a boda boda rider, I knew that he liked me and he was in my age-group. My parents prefer the old man because he has big shops in Fort Portal, Bundibugyo and Kampala and he also drives a Range Rover.

They overlook his age because of his wealth. They do not realise that he does not have good intentions.

Right now, I am in dilemma because if I report the matter to police, my parents might be arrested yet they are old and could easily die in prison and then my siblings will suffer.

Effects of child abuse
Cycle. Abused children become victims for the rest of their lives. “They grow up to become child abusers themselves,” Ida Kanywamusai, the director Vision for Teachers, explains, adding that hurting people hurt others.

Relationships.

These children develop fear and resentment towards adults, including their own parents, losing the idea of love and trust. They alienate themselves from parents, guardians and the rest of the family and usually choose to suffer in silent seclusion.

Psychology
Child abuse hampers psychological development, which results into low self-esteem and inability to behave normally.


Emotional effects
Also, stunted growth, mental retardation, disability and acquisition of diseases, are results of child neglect and abuse. These children lack problem-solving skills even as adults; they are unsocial, inactive and emotionally unstable.
The victim’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Fort Portal to wait until 2030 for City status

Part of Fort Portal town as seen from Rwengoma. Photo by Felix Basiime

BY FELIX BASIIME

& RUTH KATUSABE

Published in Daily Monitor in November 2013

KABAROLE: What was seen earlier as something achievable within 5 years has been pushed to 2030, that is the project: Fort Portal city.

According to the 2013 Five year Development Plan, the new Vision now states as, “To have an Orderly and Liveable Tourist city by year 2030”

The quest for a city status has been delayed by several factors but the biggest of all is the bickering of local leaders of Fort Portal municipality.

Both the mayor Mr Asaba Ruyonga and area MP Alex Ruhunda in 2011 launched a joint campaign with a big quest to transform this town into a city status.

During the campaigns, both Ruhunda and town mayor had a slogan "Nikisoboka Fort Portal kufooka city" meaning that it is possible for Fort Portal to turn into a city. These leaders promised the electorates that this quest was possible in five years but things have changed since and affected the original plan.

Hardly had a year past after the municipal leaders were sworn in, than bickering ensued with councilors fighting both the mayor and his Deputy Margaret Kihika over allowances and other petty issues.

“I abandoned that plan (City status) because my critics have mainly used the media in Fort Portal to tarnish me as a thief, I no longer go out to monitor projects for fear of being stoned by members of the public as I used to do and now development is at a slow pace” Asaba said.

He added, “Do you see the bickering in the 9^th Parliament, we can’t have any tangible developments in the country this term when there is bickering among the leaders, the same with Fort Portal, for development to take place, leaders must unite and jointly do projects, roads and other infrastructure is for all of us”

He added, “Am sure at this pace, Kasese will surpass Fort Portal very soon in terms of developments”

Some of the criteria for a city status

According to the Local government Act, a municipality to turn into a city must have a population of at least 500,000.

To attain this figure, the leadership of the town cannot announce over radios inviting people to migrate to town, but there must be facilities, institutions, developments and the enabling environment that automatically attract people to work, invest and stay there.

These are like hospitals, schools, hotels, universities, banks enough space for both residential and business premises.

Area for expansion is another criterion. Currently Fort Portal has West, East and South Divisions covering about 27.82 sq kms. It needs to expand beyond this by annexing some neighboring sub counties and to do this, the urban authority has to lobby these sub counties, it is not an automatic process, the law says that sub counties requested must sit and decide to join the city or may turn down the request.

However, according to the Acting Deputy Town Clerk, Mr Michael Karwani, expansion is not their strategy at the moment but they are focusing on improving the infrastructure first which will attract people to work and stay in town.

One of these is the modern market under construction at Mpanga market at the Fort Portal-Kampala road junction.

Other things that qualify for a city status include the services that the private sector offers to support the growing city and its population.

“Of course for any place to become a city, you must have a modern market which is being constructed at Mpanga, you must have a regional referral hospital, Buhinga has improved now, there are good hotels, 5 star hotels are coming up, the town is being beautified and a modern sports stadium will soon be constructed by the Chinese at Buhinga” Karwani said.

He adds, “Fort Portal-Bundibugyo and Ibanda-Fort Portal roads are being worked on and Fort Portal being the cleanest town in Uganda, with its high tourism potential and oil development, there is no doubt that it will be a business hub in the region”

What is in place now

Fort Portal town was founded in 1893 as a garrison for Sir Gerald Portal for a colonial administrative centre. However, over time it grew in size and population, becoming a Municipal Council in 1975.

Fort Portal Municipality lies at the foot of Rwenzori Mountains, 5050 feet above sea level; it is dotted with more than ten small hills from where one gets a lovely view of Rwenzori Mountains. The municipality is projected to be having a total population of 99,653 persons.

Of the 27.82 sq kms, only 4 sq kms is covered by the central business district and the remaining pieces of land are used for residential purposes and agriculture related activities.

It is 316 km from Kampala via Mubende. Accessibility by road is easy as it lies on the Kampala-Kasese highway that is one of the major link routes to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is also the major liable link to the District of Bundibugyo that lies on the border with the DRC. Additionally, it’s linked to the urban centers and the rural areas in its surrounding hinterland by a number of first class roads. This thus makes it an important center of trade and tourism.

It is a regional town for Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kasese, Bundibugyo, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo and Ntoroko districts. It is the hub of Tooro in terms of business administrative and private sector transactions.

Most roads in town are tarmacked and well drained but of late pot holes are seen on Rukidi III Street. The town has a road network of 146.3km consisting of 47.35km (tarmac), 98.95km (murram). Out of the 47.35km tarmac roads, 10.2 km are trunk section and 37.15 km are Town street roads.

“The oil industry will make Hoima and Fort Portal towns into cities; I hope that Kamwenge and Kagadi roads are worked on quickly, that is my conviction” said MP Ruhunda.

The oil prospects along L. Albert shores and the extraction of Pozolana boulders make Fort Portal a busy and economically strong commercial center in the region.

CNOOC that will operate the Ntoroko oil block will set its base in Fort Portal town.

The hinterland of Fort Portal too is attractive, and has pulled several tourists to the town the reason why the hotel industry has steadily grown here.

The attractive features include Kibale, Semliki Valley, Queen Elizabeth Mount Rwenzori National parks, the Rwagimba and Sempaya hot springs, Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru near Nyakasura School and several crater lakes.

Good Hotels include: Mountains of the Moon Hotel (2000) Ltd, Rujuna Hilltop Guesthouse, Palace Motel, Rwenzori Travelers Inn,  Tooro Resort, Ataco Country resort, Kluge’s farm hotel and camp site, Sunrise International Apartments, Raja Excelsior, Lesuiex Centre, Riviera, Hotel Cornerstone, Lake Kyaninga Lodge, Hilton and several camp sites.

Fort Portal Municipal Council authorities have prioritized physical planning exercise in the next five years. This planning will provide for road location, schools and health facilities, open spaces, play grounds, commercial centres and residential neighborhoods.

The council intends to hire a consultant to design a strategic plan for the next 15 years to show the road map of a city status.

“We want to hire an expert in physical planning to help our technical team in planning for a city” says Ruhunda.

On top of hydro-electric power supply by Umeme from Jinja, other potential alternative sources of energy in Fort-Portal Municipality include:-Katokoma mini-water falls, Biogas, Solar and Wind

World Bank Grant

The urban authority has lobbed a Shs 2 billion grant every year from the World Bank for city development and out of this they will build modern roads and a Bus park.

“We are going to build modern markets and we encourage Fort Portal people to embrace this venture” said Karwani.

He said the Municipal council is going to lobby the district leadership to give them land at Kyembogo so that they can build an Industrial park.

“With this, we will have expanded Fort Portal in order to be a city by 2030” said Karwani.

He added, “Our town beatification with green belts and it cleanliness have attracted more people to tour around making our hotels busy and we get hotel tax from the visitors”

Karwani said that they want to contact the ministry of Tourism to construct Heritage Park for tourism attraction.

The construction of Fort Portal-Bundibugyo road has attracted more people to acquire land which will boost business.

The vast tea industry in the hinterland has attracted tourists to the town as some of the investors and workers sleep in town hence bringing income.

Some development challenges

Since the coming into force of the 1995 Constitution, an establishment of land law was provided to the effect that land belongs to the people. In essence, this rendered formerly controlling authorities mere agents of planning.

According to the 5 year development plan, the urban authority becomes practically difficult to effectively plan for what they do not control. In this respect, Fort Portal Municipal Council faces it as a challenge to enforce acceptable development standards; consequently, development is in progress amidst unauthorized developments, particularly illegal structures.

Fort Portal receives rainfall almost throughout the year. Such a climatic condition has adverse effects on the road network and drainage development. It has increasingly become expensive to maintain the road network whose rate of deterioration does not match the available resources to finance the damages. The problem is further aggravated by the increase in road traffic through continuous tear and wear.

Heavy trucks to DRC mainly pass through Fort Portal including the over 50 trucks that daily ferry pozzolana to from Fort Portal to Hima cement factory in Kasese district.

       What others say

 

Mr Patrick Bamanyisa

I think it was a campaign slogan (City status) like any other. Starting with Obama's "Yes We Can" yes we can what??!!!, even Jacob Zuma of South Africa promised south Africans 500,000 jobs during his election campaign and.......the list can go on and on!!!!! Briefly, all politicians are liars.

Ms Nyakato Rusoke
It (City status) was just a campaign gimmick, nothing has been done, we don’t have a single public toilet in town, and most buildings in town especially on Laggard Street and Kiboga road are not connected to the sewer line. There are no street lights because Fort Portal municipal council failed to pay Umeme bills and the people of Fort Portal will not benefit from the quarrels of the mayor and his councilors, for us we want work not fights.