Kasira Odili, one of the refugees returning home, mentioned that they had made contact with people who had remained in their area and were informed that calm had returned with increased security led by the Congolese army.
Adjumani hospital laboratory currently has a capacity of testing up to 500 samples a day and West Nile collects between 90 and 150 samples from COVID-19 suspects.
More than 1,500 refugees fled into Uganda through Lake Albert in Ntoroko district following tribal clashes which erupted in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC.
Sam Mbahimba, a refugee from Kamango Village, says that he will return to his home when he is guaranteed security by UPDF and Congolese army. He explains that for the past four days, he has struggled to feed his family of five children.
Through his lawyer Solomon Webale Araali of KGN Advocates, Stephen Irumba accuses the government of grabbing 200 of his 500 acres of land in Rwentuha Sub County in Kyegegwa district and turning it into a refugee settlement area. In September last year, officials from the Ministry of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees started settling more than 100 families on the land, a move Irumba says is illegal. This was after the officials surveyed the land and claimed it belonged to the government.
Their latest clashes started after Raia Mutomboki forces opened fire on a patrol vehicle belonging to the government forces killing two and injuring three others. The incident prompted the government forces to pursue the forces with intense fighting on the stretch between Numbi to Ziralo areas in the territory of Kalehe in South Kivu province.
Timothy Kyamanywa, the Ntoroko District Chairperson says three months ago, they wrote to the Office of the Prime Minister and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR to relocate the Congolese refugees to Kyaka II refugee camp in Kyegegwa district or return them home, but they have received no response.
The governments of Uganda and the DRC are locked up in a three-day meeting to streamline the repatriation of Congolese refugees back home. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, there are over 171,000 Congolese refugees in Uganda though government places it at 184,000.
In a crisis meeting held on Wednesday night at Busunga Border post, the police led by the Rwenzori Region Police Commander, Thomas Kasimo, Bundibugyo district officials, officials of the Uganda Red Cross and Bundibugyo hospital administrators, it was agreed that the bodies be buried in the hospital compound.
One of the Congolese officials from Kamango only identified as Alpha, told reporters at Busunga that they have buried more than 50 bodies since Saturday and don’t want to bury anymore bodies.
The Congolese nationals started fleeing their homes after the Allied Democratic Front (ADF) captured Kamango town which lies about 12kms from the Ugandan border. They overran the Congolese government forces at dawn on Christmas day.
The more than 700 refugees who fled the fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo in September are camped at Budiba Primary School Play ground. They are surviving on a cup of porridge, posho and beans, supplied to them by the good Samaritans in the area.
After thorough consultations with immigration officials, the refugees could not be registered from Malaba since they accessed the country through another border post yet people seeking political asylum can only be registered from the point of entry
Police in Bundibugyo are holding three men in connection with the theft of 20 bales of blankets meant for Congolese refugees camped at Bubukwanga Transit Centre in the district.
Some councillors in Hoima want the Council to discuss the eviction of more than 60,000 people from Kyangwali and the attachment of the district property.
President Yoweri Museveni has warned the M23 rebels against using unconstitutional means to change government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
