Bodies of three children have been recovered from Aroca swam, a tributary of River Nile along Amii to Alworoceng road in Ibuje sub-county, Apac District. Security is still searching for two male adults who were traveling with the children.
The children aged between three to thirteen years whose identities had not been established were in the company of two males and a female adult only identified as Winnie when the small canoe they were traveling in overturned in the waters flooding the road.
The floods have covered a stretch of 3 kilometers of road from Amii through Alworoceng to Kidilani in Oyam district via Atapara. David Okot, the Persons with Disability (PWDs) LC III Councilor confirmed the incident, saying that Winnie together with her husband were returning to their marital home in Alworoceng when the incident happened.
Referring to the flooding that happened on the same road in 2021, Okot described how hard they have tried to get Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA to fix the road to no avail. He said being blind, he has been missing council meetings because he is unable to cross the flooded road.
Similarly, Sam Opira, a councilor in Apac District Local Council attributed this to the poor status of roads in the district especially those with swamps, which are poorly managed during the rainy season.
“This is one of the problems we have in this district especially this road which is a UNRA-managed road but year in and year out the road is flooded but they fix it poorly which cannot stand the magnitude of the floods in the following years and that is why people are crossing using canoes which unfortunately has resulted into this tragedy. We think this requires a permanent solution. Let them raise it high to help the people. As leaders, we shall look for other avenues to let the government know that we are not happy as the people of Apac.”
Alex Ogota, the chairperson of LC3 Ibjue sub-county advised parents to keep their children away from crossing the flooded road to avert such incidences.
Although this is the first time people have drowned on the road, in 2020, the same road flooded, resulting in the closure of St Anne’s Hospital, a private health facility that provided care for the residents of Ibuje sun county.
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