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Floods Ravage Families, Cripple Service Delivery in Katakwi

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Pennina Pedo, an expectant mother due for delivery from Amutur Village said that she struggled to move to Katakwi General Hospital for delivery from Palam Health Centre III.
29 Oct 2024 07:57
Flooded trading center in Ngariam Town Board.

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Several houses have been submerged by floods, rendering thousands of people homeless in Katakwi district. The floods, which started in July, have affected service delivery in health facilities, schools, and road infrastructure in the district.

In Palam Health Centre III, Palam Sub-County, deliveries have been suspended after water filled the placenta pit, incinerator, and pit latrines. The mothers due for delivery walk more than 30 kilometres to access maternal services in Katakwi General Hospital.

Pennina Pedo, an expectant mother due for delivery from Amutur Village said that she struggled to move to Katakwi General Hospital for delivery from Palam Health Centre III. Pedo says that she was referred to the general hospital when the floods filled up the placenta pit and pit latrines in the facility.

“We don't even have any money for transport to Katakwi, but we have been asked to go to Katakwi General Hospital. Our only hope for money was in the cassava garden which has been submerged by floods. My husband and I are sleeping in the cold- muddy house, and the situation is very disturbing,” she said.

//Cue in "Atonis bodo na...

Cue out…aibokin ore aibokin "//

Joseph Ojakol, a resident in Amutur village says that he has been forced to move his family of seven people to live with a relative in Katawki town. He notes that besides struggling for basic needs like food and shelter for the family, he is battling various illnesses including malaria that have affected livelihoods in the family. 

//Cue in "esipos akipi asipo...

Cue out…ebakai esikaning"//

George William Achia, the LC1 Chairman of Oramun Village says that most of the people in the village have relocated to the nearby trading centres, schools, and churches for shelter. He notes that access to the village has been cut off, making transportation of food and household items difficult.  

Achia is worried about the probable outbreak of diseases like cholera and dysentery as most of the pit latrines have sunk, forcing residents to answer nature calls in the open.

//Cue in "Elototo itunga adekis…

Cue…itunga adumun amukian" //.

Ketty Ichumar, a midwife at Palam Health Centre III, says that the facility cannot conduct deliveries as the places for dumping placentas are inaccessible. She notes that the current floods are also affecting the staff and their families as pit latrines are submerged by floods. 

//Cue in "I'm worried of...

Cue out…refer to Katakwi"//

Sophia Akwi, the acting Senior Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of Palam, says that the floods have affected both health and education services in the Sub-County. She notes that most of the access roads in the Sub-County are impassable as the flash floods have washed away the bridges and marram from the road surface. 

//Cue in "All the compound…

Cue out… fully as expected.”//  

The flooding in Katakwi is caused by the increasing heavy rains in the Karamoja sub-region. The most affected areas are the sub-counties of Palam, Ngariam, Okore, Guyaguya, Magoro, and Okulunyo- located at the border with Napak district in the Karamoja sub-region. 

The heavy rains from Karamoja push water from Mt. Moroto through Lokicar and Lomaniman Rivers to Katakwi, causing flooding.

Godfrey Omolo, the Katakwi LCV Chairman says that a total of seven sub-counties have been hit with almost all the crops in the gardens washed away. 

Omolo says that the district is compiling reports of people, animals, and property lost to the floods to the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees including the Office of the Prime Minister for possible rescue. He notes that the situation poses a high risk of food shortage in the district.