writes Leo Odera Omolo
A 40km-crack has developed on the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Manafwa district, threatening about 8,000 residents in eight sub-counties.
“The crack runs through the sub-counties of Mukoto, Tsekululu, Buwabwala, Bukhabusi, Bupoto, Namabya, Bumbo and Bukokho, which borders with Kenya,” said Charles Walimbwa Masolo, the chairperson of the district.
A view of the mountain in Manafwa district
He said the crack had split many houses, some of which had collapsed. “In some areas, the cracks disappear and reappear. The cracks have been developing slowly overtime as people degrade the land,” he added.
He recalled that geologists from Makerere University, NEMA, the environment watchdog, as well as UN and local government experts studied the area recently and are expected to release their results soon.
Walimbwa noted that the affected residents had sought shelter with relatives. “Over 8,000 people have been displaced in the eight sub-counties and need resettlement,” said Walimbwa.
He was speaking during the multi-purpose native tree-planting campaign on May 15. The campaign is being undertaken by Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) and Uganda Breweries on the bare hill of Kitsi village.
Mt. Elgon, which is 4,321m above sea level, is an extinct volcano and is associated with the tectonic activity, which created the Rift Valley millions of years ago.
Walimbwa explained that the mountain soils are now loose because most of the trees have been cut down due to the increasing population.
“The population stands at 493 persons per sq. km and depend on a land mass of 350,000 sq. km.”
Most of the land on hilltops belongs to the district, but some of it is owned by households. “Land here is the most valuable asset,” Walimbwa said.
Commenting on the cracks, Michael Mwangale, the Manafwa district forestry officer, said: “The width of cracks varies according to soil structure. In some places, it’s as wide as two feet and reduces to inches, or is thread-like.”
Walimbwa also blamed poor land management practices. He hoped that when the experts’ report comes out, the Prime Minister’s office will use it as the basis to resettle the affected persons.
“Resettling these people is urgent.
These areas need to be replanted faster. If the issue is not handled urgently, we envisage a repeat of Bududa scenery,” he stressed.
About 400 people were killed by mudslides in Bududa, when three villages were buried on March 1. Bududa stands north of Manafwa on the Elgon slopes.
Walimbwa said the Bududu landslides opened people’s eyes on the dangers of environment degradation. “But we are not taking chances. We are undertaking serious sensitisation, including the call for planting of trees,” he said.
Daniel Ssembogga, the Uganda Breweries corporate relations manager, said 20,000 tree seedlings had been given out for this phase of the tree-planting. “Today, we have planted 1,000 seedlings out 5,000. This year, we are targeting planting one million trees in Uganda.”
“In Manafwa, the project will support tree planting on 100ha (40,000 trees) of seven hills,” said Pauline Kalunda, the head of ECOTRUST. She added that plans were underway to plant fruit trees, start apiculture and agroforestry. “We are already carrying out juice processing on a small scale.”
Kalunda said most of the land and rivers in the area had been severely degraded and the district was facing water and fuel wood scarcity.
“In some sub-counties like Bugobero, Butta, Khabutoola, Butiru and Bumbo some homes rely on dry maize stacks and banana leaves to cook one-meal a day. Some even sleep without food.”
Gabriel Bwayo, the Manafwa acting chief administrative officer, said the Government encourages replanting of the degraded land.
Ends