DMC boats, substandard life jackets fuelling deaths on lakes – Police
Dr Otto Businge, a research associate at the Makerere University School of Public Health, who was part of the study that was conducted between 2016 and 2017, said most of the cases of drowning are preventable if safety measures are put in place.
Moses Kalanzi, the executive director of Swim Safe Uganda, a non-governmental organisation (L) and Moses Nsubuga, a survivor of drowning (R), addressing the press. (Credit: Sam Wakhakha)
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One evening in April 2007, Moses Nsubuga and his colleagues set off from Ggaba landing site in Kampala for Kisumu port in Kenya in a boat loaded with timber. The lake was calm, and all seemed well as Nsubuga and his crew embarked on the journey. No life jackets, no basic swimming survival skills.
What was supposed to be a trans-night voyage, however, turned into a tragedy that forever changed Nsubuga’s life physically and psychologically. After three hours of sailing, at about 9:00pm, the lake started rioting. The hitherto calm, dark lake started becoming stormy.
“Waves started hitting our boat, and we thought they would be short-lived as usual. However, they persisted in strength, incrementally. At some point, our boat got filled with water, and we started struggling to draw it out as a way of preventing it from capsizing. We decided to offload some cargo into the lake, but the waves grew stronger, each depositing a considerable amount of water in our boat. Then there came this final big wave that hit the boat and forced it to capsize. We had life jackets, but they did not work,” he says.
Speaking with a tone of trauma, Nsubuga recalls multiple lively souls that were on the boat with him drowning in less than five minutes. It was dark as the drowning souls tried to sound alarms, with each trying to hold onto any floating object that they could find.
“The colleagues I was with shouted, clinging onto every floating object they could find. One of the colleagues tried to hold onto me, but I shoved him off because he was pulling me deep down into the water. I was lucky to get hold of the capsized boat because it was still floating, but upside down. I managed to climb onto the capsized boat,” he narrated.
After about 10 minutes, there was silence, which was occasionally interrupted by the swish sound of the waves. Nsubuga bled, but held onto the floating wrecked boat.
“I held onto it throughout the night, from about 9:00pm to 4:00am. At dawn, I drifted towards Lamba Island on the Kenya-Uganda border and on reaching ashore, I rested. I was exhausted and in pain. The place was infested with reptiles, but I did not mind them. I remember gigantic monitor lizards staring at me as I lay down on the ground, but I did not care,” Nsubuga says.
At about 10:00am, a boat carrying Kenyan fishermen passed near the island, and Nsubuga decided to wave at them, begging for rescue.
On getting the information, Ugandan authorities tried to mount a search on the lake and picked up all the dead bodies except for one person, which has never been found to date.
Today, Nsubuga lives with both trauma and physical injuries sustained during the tragedy that occurred 20 years ago.
“My right hand does not work well because of the injury I sustained in the shoulder. I have many physical scars. The fact that my colleague’s body was not found also haunts me to date. I don’t know whether he was eaten by fish or crocodiles. I usually get nightmares,” he says.
Nsubuga narrated the story during the launch of an anti-drowning campaign by Swim Safe Uganda, a non-government organisation, on Friday. The launch of the campaign, dubbed 3000, took place at the Health Science Journalists’ Union offices in Kamwokya, Kampala on Friday.
Safety on lakes
Nsubuga’s story highlights the problems that are bedevilling Uganda’s water transport sector. According to a recent study that was done by the Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda registers 3,000 cases of drowning annually.
Dr Otto Businge, a research associate at the Makerere University School of Public Health, who was part of the study that was conducted between 2016 and 2017, said most of the cases of drowning are preventable if safety measures are put in place.
“In our research, we examined records from the Police, mortuaries and conducted community interviews. We found that over 3,000 people drown each year and found that even in ditches which get filled with water, people drown. On lakes, the security agencies try to enforce safety measures, but Ugandans do not want to follow them. There are many unseaworthy boats that are operating on major lakes across the country, and you find them parked with people,” he said.
The national drowning prevention strategy 2025-2029 developed by the works and transport ministry indicates that between 1,400 and 3,000 deaths per year in Uganda are caused by drowning.
Bashir Siriba, the coordinator of the national drowning prevention programme in the Uganda Police Force, appealed to Ugandans to be cautious when using water transport, insisting that most of the safety measures, such as swimming skills, are out of personal initiative.
“Before you depart, make sure you have a life-saving jacket. Do not allow a coxwine who is drunk or under the influence of any substance to be in charge of your life on the lake as you depart. You should also avoid night travels because getting rescued is difficult,” he says.
Mansour Isabirye, a safety officer from the Police Marine Unit, decried the prevalent substandard life jackets that are on the market in Uganda, pointing out that many do not meet the minimum standards.
“A good life jacket should have buoyance materials, straps and be of visible colours to help in identification from a distance. It should also match your weight. There are many substandard ones on the market, and we appeal to all stakeholders, especially UNBS, to act,” he said.
Moses Kalanzi, the executive director of Swim Safe Uganda, a non-government organisation, called for more training and sensitisation of communities about water transport safety.
“In some places, communities attribute drownings and boat accidents to gods of the lake. When an accident occurs, you will hear them say that Jjaja Mukasa [god of the lake] was angry. We need to train people about safety measures,” he said.
Kalanzi said that, together with stakeholders such as the Police, they have trained over 1,900 people across the country.
According to statistics from the Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda has one of the highest drowning burdens in the world, with 502 deaths per 100,000 in some Lake Victoria fishing communities.
“About 70% of reported incidents occur in lakeside districts. Kalangala and Buvuma, both island districts on Lake Victoria, carry the heaviest burden. 95% of people who drown in boat-related incidents were not wearing a life jacket,” the report read.