RUMONGE April 21st (ABP) – The rising water of Lake Tanganyika have hit the people from Kanyenkoko, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. More than a year ago, some 44 families were forced to leave their flooded homes and others destroyed by rising water.
The latter were relocated to the site commonly called “CEMINA”, at the headquarters of Rumonge province, very close to the high court, 200 meters from their former homes. According to Hussein Sirabahenda, disaster manager of the site, it all started in 2019, when it was noticed that after each heavy rainfall, the level of the lake rose little by little and did not recede. It was in March 2021 that the communal and provincial administration took the decision to relocate them when their houses were overwhelmed, many of which were engulfed by the water that kept invading the surroundings.
Edissa Minani and Christine Simbemera, two women affected, indicate that the relocated families are confronted with cold, wind and rain as long as the site is open to the sky. And this a problem for their vulnerable children who are at risk of catching diseases. They let it be known that they lack blankets, mosquito nets to protect themselves against malaria, but also food is needed. “We only have a shower and a toilet for women as well as for men. The fact that the site is open to the sky is a great dilemma for the cohabitation of married couples,” they said.
Hussein Sirabahenda, responsible for that site, says that it has been 7 months since they received any help from benefactors. He indicated that following all those challenges, out of the 44 families relocated, only 28 families remain there, the 16 others have requested refuge with their friends. As those families have just spent more than a year in that site, they ask that decent houses be built for them elsewhere.
In that regard, Mr. Consolateur Nitunga, governor of Rumonge province, specifies that a site of 5 hectares has been found for them in the locality of Mutambara in Rumonge commune. For him, the issue is in the hands of the ministry in charge of the environment to which the Rumonge province asked permission to start the construction works of the houses for the 44 families. He pointed out that the budget allocated by donors is available for that purpose. Mr. Nitunga said that since their misadventure, the province and its partners have supported those families with basic needs (blankets, food), and have given them mosquito nets filled with insecticides to protect themselves against malaria.
According to Mr. Nitunga, since 2020, some 1,801 households in Rumonge province have been affected by the consequences of climate change, the most known of which is the rising water of Lake Tanganyika. Only the 44 families from the locality of Kanyenkoko have been relocated. More than 1750 households remaining are hosted in families and are assisted like the others by the province, he said, acknowledging the solidarity of the inhabitants of Rumonge who came to their aid.