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Travel in Lake Zone still uncertain
2008-01-13 10:24:35
By Darius Mukiza
Four weeks ago Anaceth Nestory hired a car from Mwanza to take him to Muleba. He packed his possessions, readied himself and set out for the 300-plus kilometre journey on a dusty road, little knowing what fate awaited him.
It was not yet dusk, but while driving along the Biharamulo forests, Nestory and colleagues were stopped at gunpoint, forced to leave the vehicle, had their baggage seized, cellular phones and wallets snatched away from them, and upon the slightest resistance they were threatened with a thorough beating and even death.
``Such ambushes are not rare in the forest road,`` said a Muleba resident. “But this would not have been the case had effective marine transport been in place.
When you think of transport you think of hell, nothing else.`` Nestory and company lost personal possessions worth over 15m/-.
Safe transport in the lake zone relies heavily on marine vessels which are rarely forthcoming, prompting the majority of residents of Kagera Region to sound an urgent appeal to the government to do something about it.
They are proposing that a big, mechanically sound ship be purchased and commissioned to operate in Lake Victoria.
A month ago, unconfirmed reports indicated that a new ship was being constructed, and that it would be called mv Misungwi.
The reports further indicated that the ship would have a passenger capacity of 1,000, plus 36 light vehicles and nine heavy trucks.
However, the Deputy Director of Marine Services, John Kilenzi, dismissed the reports, saying it was only the familiar, long-serving mv Victoria which was undergoing regular maintenance.
“I know nothing about construction of a new ship. The lake is currently served by MV Serengeti with the capacity to carry 1,500 people and 600 tons of cargo,” said Kilenzi.
Memories of the fateful MV Bukoba accident only a few kilometers from Mwanza in 1996 are still fresh when one travels in the waters of Lake Victoria today. About 1,000 lives perished in that nightmarish accident.
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