Traffic on Jinja-Iganga highway disrupted by floods
Nov 27, 2023
A section of the busy highway was flooded following heavy rains which pounded the area for close to one hour.
A Gateway bus trying to go through the water that flooded at Wanyange along the Jinja-Iganga highway on Sunday evening. (Photos by Donald Kiirya)
Donald Kiirya
Journalist @New Vision
_________________________ A vehicle (right) being driven through the water that flooded a road section at Wanyange along the Jinja-Iganga highway on Sunday evening.
Transport along the Jinja-Iganga highway was disrupted at Wanyange village in Jinja City for at least one hour on Sunday evening after a downpour.
A section of the busy highway was flooded following heavy rains which pounded the area for close to one hour.
The flooding resulted in traffic snarl-up which affected both lanes of the busy road as road users struggled to go through the floods.
Though there were no traffic policemen to guide traffic, motorists approached the section with caution as they reduced speed to go through.
Other motorists with small vehicles, mostly taxis, trailers, and lorries were seen crossing over the pavement to another lane from the opposite direction to continue to their destinations.
Houses were submerged in the water, forcing some residents to flee their houses. Others were trapped inside their houses, trying to battle the floods with basins and buckets.
Businesses, especially stalls of fresh and roasted pork were forced to close during the downpour.
Daniel Muwanguzi said, “Whenever it rains heavily, the area floods and the water runs down from the hilly areas of Nakanyonyi and Wanyange.”
He appealed to authorities at the Jinja Northern Division in Jinja City over the issue. 
Muwanguzi also faulted residents who built houses in water drainage areas, adding that this caused blockages hence causing floods whenever it rains heavily.
Abu Bamwidukire, a boda rider from Namaganga in Busedde Sub-County, Jinja District, said the floods had become a problem for motorists and residents in the Wanyange area.
Beatrice Muzaki, a resident of Wanyange village, said some of the culverts at the Old Kakira Road were blocked by the time Nile Oil petrol station was being built near the U-turn junction in Bugembe, and no action was taken to unblock them, adding that this might be the cause of the flooding in the area.
“We used not to experience floods in this area but ever since the petrol station was built at the U-turn junction, floods started and the section is affected whenever it rains heavily,” Muzaki said.
She requested their area Member of Parliament, David Aga Isabirye (Jinja Northern Division Constituency), to come to their rescue since it’s his area of jurisdiction.
Proscovia Nakiyemba, a resident of Wanyange Lake village and a VHT at the village, named residents who were affected and these include Mudoola, Nakiyemba, Songa Kagoya Natundantya, Kadaya, and Sam Kigwana’s place among others, whose houses were partly submerged.
She called upon Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) officials to come to their rescue and work on the section of the road since it is located along the Jinja-Iganga highway to avoid other accidents.
Rains are expected to last until February 2024 in some parts of the country.
No Comment