By Emmanuel Olinga
Katakwi District residents are raising alarm over the worsening state of roads and farmlands following days of torrential rains that have left behind massive destruction.
Several households are stranded after floods swept through the district, washing away bridges, destroying homes, and submerging gardens of food crops.
Residents such as Zainabu Sebi and Titus Modo expressed frustration that the heavy rains have made major roads impassable, delayed access to social services, and triggered accidents across the district.
Jorem Obelamo and Samuel Ouga, both residents of Katakwi, appealed to district authorities and the Ministry of Works and Transport to urgently rehabilitate the flooded roads, saying the situation has crippled trade and movement between sub-counties and the district headquarters.
Among the roads most affected are Toroma–Usuk–Ongongonja, Ngaram Corner–Ngariam Sub-county headquarters, and Kapujan–Toroma–Magoro, among others.
In Ngariam Sub-county, LCIII chairperson Moses Iteit reported that floods have ravaged more than 500 crop gardens of sweet potatoes, groundnuts, cassava, and other food crops.
He said over 200 houses have been destroyed, leaving about 2,000 residents displaced out of the sub-county’s population of roughly 10,000.
Many of the displaced families have sought temporary refuge in trading centres.
The most affected parishes include Kaikamosing, Adipala, Osobut, Acanga, Oseep, and Oedepus.
“With this level of destruction, we are likely to experience food shortages in the near future,” Iteit warned.
He urged the government to establish an emergency fund for disaster-prone areas like Katakwi to help mitigate recurring crises.
Katakwi District LCV chairperson, Geoffrey Omolo, echoed the call for intervention, noting that the district has a limited budget to address the situation.
“The district has only about one billion shillings in road funds, which is insufficient for the scale of damage caused. Katakwi is a disaster-prone district, and the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness must step in with additional resources,” he emphasized.
Efforts to obtain a response from central government authorities were unsuccessful by the time of filing this report.
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