President Yoweri Museveni has condoled with families that lost loved ones to floods and mudslides in the areas of Kigezi and Ntoroko districts and directed State House to give each of them sh5m as well as extend sh1m to those that were injured.
The President however cautioned and warned that there should be no buildings or gardens 50 metres from river banks, 200 metres from the lake shore, and no building on hills with a gradient greater than 30 degrees.
The President said the losses of life re-emphasise the need to observe the environmental requirements strictly.
He said forests hold the soil and prevent the landslides, the roots of the trees hold the soil, The forests near the riverbanks and lakeshores filter the water going into the rivers or lakes, so that they do not silt and warned that its wrong to interfere with this delicate work of God and nature,
According to Irene Nakasita the director of communications, resource mobilization and partnerships at the Uganda Red Cross Society, on May 2 and May 3, 2023, Kisoro district which neighbours Rwanda to the south, experienced above-normal rains that caused heavy flooding and landslides, leading to the death of eight people, and leaving six injured.
