Mbarara hailstorm affects over 500 families

A total of 534 households in Rwebishekye and Kyatyazo wards in Bwizibwera town council, Mbarara district are counting losses after being hit by a hailstorm that left several fields of crops and property destroyed.

The Bwizibwera town council agricultural officer, Ezra Muramuzi, said fields of maize, beans, cassava, bananas and ground nuts were destroyed.

He said of the households affected, 249 are in Rwebishekye and 142 in Katyazo ward.

Tumuhimbise Benon, one of the affected persons, called for relief from Good Samaritans.

"We are already in the crisis of COVID-19, our children are going back to school next week but our only source of income is destroyed completely," Wilber Tayebwa, another victim stated.

The councillor representing the area, Bonny Sanyu Mutungi, who was also affected, appealed to government to provide emergency seeds for planting, to ensure food security.

Bwizibwera town clerk Nelson Mugumya urged farmers to diversify production by practising rotational farming and using terraces to prevent soil degradation and other natural calamities.

In another development, residents of Nyakaguruka and Kyabwihura cells in Kinoni town councilRwampara district, are seeking assistance after a hailstorm destroyed their property and gardens.

About 143 families were affected by the hailstorm.

Rwampara Resident District Commissioner Emmy Kateera Turyabagyenyi promised to report to relevant authorities and ask for food relief from the Office of the Prime Minister, as an immediate intervention, as they plan further.