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.
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.