By: Melanie Aanyu

Landslide victims, who were resettled in Bunambutye Resettlement Camp in Bulambuli District, are living in fear after their houses started developing cracks.

The victims were relocated in 2019 after the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) bought more than 2,800 acres of land in 2013.

Close to 263 families, comprising more than 4,000 people, have so far been resettled in the camp in the three phases; 2019, 2020 and 2022.

 When the media recently  visited the site , it established that more than 90 houses had developed cracks, barely three years after they were constructed.

 This has triggered panic among residents, who were relocated from the disaster-prone districts of Bududa, Manafwa, Sironko, Bulambuli, and Namisindwa.

  The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Engineering Brigade, the Police Construction Unit and the Uganda Prisons constructed the houses.

 Mr John Wakube, a resident, who lost his wife in a landslide, said his house is in a sorry state.

 Mr Anthony Wabusi, another resident, said whenever it rains, they have sleepless nights because they fear the house might collapse.

 “We appeal to the government to come to our rescue because as I speak the doors of my house can’t close because of the effect of the cracks,” Mr Wambusi said.

 Mr Julius Kidiyo, the chairperson of the resettlement camp, said most of the houses that have cracks were constructed during the 1st and 2nd phase.

Mr Isaac Katenya, the MP of Bulambuli County, said:  “Other houses have major cracks that are life-threatening. I have appealed to them to find comfort from the neighbours as government looks for a solution.”