KALANGALA.
Five islanders in Kalangala District have narrowly death on Lake Victoria .
This happened after the cargo boat they occupants got entangled in fishing nets and began sinking on Lake Victoria near Lwamunyo Island.
Bambalazaabwe Semakula, a veteran journalist and one of the survivors, said they were traveling from Kigungu landing site in Wakiso District to Misonzi landing site in Kalangala District when disaster struck at around 7:30pm on Monday evening .
“We had just passed Lwamunyo Island when the boat’s engine got stuck in fishing nets submerged in the water. We tried cutting through the nets with knives, but failed,” he recounted.
With water slowly entering the wooden vessel, Semakula and the four others tried to signal for help using their phone torches, but received no immediate assistance .
“It was dark. We could hear boat engines from afar, but no one could see us. Then I noticed a distant torchlight, so I waved my phone torch, hoping someone would spot us,” he said.
Two boats eventually responded and arrived at the scene at around 8:00pm.
“They told us to jump and cling onto their boats. That’s how we survived. But we couldn’t save any cargo,” he said.
The boat, which belonged to a fisherman known as Kuwatanya from Lulamba, was transporting 30 bags of ice and 80 jerry cans of petrol. None of it was recovered.
Semakula confirmed that a few people who where on board and their rescuers had no life jackets.
Mr Sirajje Mawanda, a spokesperson of Association of Fishermen and Lake Users (AFALU), urged skippers to be more cautious while navigating through fishing grounds.
“Most fishing nets are marked with jerry cans to show safe passage.
Overloaded boats sit lower in the water and can easily get trapped, even when they pass through the correct routes,” he explained.
Kalangala has a troubling history of boat accidents. In 2000, 71 people died after a boat hit rocks en route to Katosi in Mukono District. In 2006, six people drowned in an early morning accident between Bukasa and Kasenyi.
More recently, 20 people died in August 2024 when a boat sank near Nsazi Island after being hit by strong waves at night.
To enhance safety, government has recently acquired lifesaving boats, though enforcement of life jacket use and loading limits remains weak.
The accident comes at a time when Lake Victoria is entering its roughest months, typically marked by high waves and poor visibility.