Legislators from the Mt Elgon region threatened Wednesday to demonstrate against government’s alleged failure to relocate more than 50, 000 residents who are at risk of mudslides.
Yahaya Gudoi Wojje, the Bunghoko County North Member of Parliament says government has not taken any move to rescue the residents despite several reports about the looming disaster in the region.
He threatened to protest government’s inability to take care of the lives of its citizen and their properties.
Wojje also described as nonsense, comments by Musa Ecweru, the state minister for disaster preparedness that government has no land to relocate victims of the recent landslides in Bulambuli district that killed over 30 people.
He said government can use the vast chunks of land belonging to Kakungulu in Mbale to temporally relocate the people.
Irene Muloni, the Bulambuli woman MP advised government to purchase the free vast land in Bunabutye in Bulambuli where government can purchase cheaply to relocate victims.
She says they plan to table a motion in parliament to compel government to act fast and remove people from the slope of Mt Elgon. Muloni, who is also energy minister, says they will do every thing possible to ensure government relocates the victims immediately.
Wafula Oguttu, Bukooli central MP called for the scrapping of the disaster preparedness ministry saying it is ill equipped.
He wonders why government is not trying to relocate the victims.
The disaster preparedness minister, Dr. Stephen Malinga, referred URN Reporter to John Martin Owor, the commissioner in charge of relief and disaster management in the ministry.
Owor could not however pick several repeated phone calls.
Dr. Mary Goretti Kintu, the information system specialist of National Environmental Management Authority- NEMA says the Mountainous part of Mbale, Manafwa, Sironko, Bududa, Kapchorwa, Kween and Buko districts risk mudslides and asked government to intervene.
