The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) has issued five recommendations for the government to support the Kiteezi disaster victims, in which they suggested that the government should come up with special livelihood programs and housing projects for the victims to ensure quick economic recovery and longtime community resilience.
The IRCU, an organization that unites all religions in the country, echoed the recommendation on August 19, 2024, during a prayer that was organized for the disaster survivors.
The Most Rev. Dr. Samuel Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, the IRCU chairperson and the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, who was the main celebrant, said that the survivors are faced with several challenges and called for immediate government action to help the survivors.
“These people who are still staying in the Kiteezi play grounds need immediate help from the government. They should be relocated to other places and find a way of providing for them suitable accommodation and some livelihood programs to help them with their livelihood so that they can stop suffering,” Archbishop Mugalu said.
His Eminence Metropolitan Jeronymos Muzeeyi, the Co-chairperson of IRCU and the Archbishop of the Uganda Orthodox Church of Uganda, noted the need for the government to promptly seek advice and warnings from technical professionals, particularly officials from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), to avoid such disasters.
“The government should take warnings from technical personnel seriously and act effectively to avoid such avoidable catastrophes from happening,” he noted.
The IRCU further recommended that the government should provide psych-social support and counseling to the victims, ensure a coordinated waste management framework for the country, and improve on the funding for continuous environmental impact assessments and mitigation.
The Uganda Police Force confirmed on August 18, 2024, that at least 35 people were reported dead, with over 28 still missing. The search is still taking place at the Kiteezi landfill collapse in Wakiso district.
