At least seven people have died in Bugiri district since this year begun as a result of eating poisonous cassava, according to a police report. The report notes that majority of those who died are children below 5-years-old.
The report lists the deceased as Musa Opio and Sarah Macho, both 5-year-old twins from Namukonge village in Kapyang Sub county, David Muwanguzi of Nawanjuki village, Juliius Ogema, Joseph Bwire and Michael Kasada all of residents of Butema village in Buluguyi Sub county, and 70-year-old,Christiano Wafula of Katale village in Nabukalu Sub county.
The July 11th 2017 report signed by Edirisa Kyeyune, the Bugiri District Police Commander, notes that ten other people were admitted in different hospitals in critical condition after eating poisonous cassava.
He says the residents were forced to eat the poisonous cassava because of the biting famine especially in rural areas of the district. The worst affected are people in Kapyang, Buluguyi, Nabukalu and Buwunga Sub counties. Edirisa Kyeyune, the Bugiri District Police Commander cautions residents against eating immature cassava to avoid similar cases in the future.
Margret Mwanamoiza, the Bugiri District Resident District Commissioner, says during the hard times some parents decided to abandon their children and left them to survive on their own. “These children decided to look for wild cassava in peoples plantations in order to survive and ended up losing their lives,” she said.
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