Following Lake Victoria tragedy ,Ugandans are today celebrating National Mourning day fellow Ugandans that perished in the accident.
Ugandan parliament Joined the rest of the country to Mourn fellow Ugandans who perished in Lake Victoria Boat accident on the 24.11.2018 May the soul of our departed brothers and sisters rest in eternal peace.
“Today is National Mourning day in Uganda. We mourn all Ugandans who died when the boat capsized in Lake Victoria.It’s been almost one week since the tragic boat accident on Lake Victoria. The #thoughts and #prayers of all the staff at WIL Uganda go out to everyone affected by this accident an all those who left us too soon.”
@UKinUganda flag at half-mast as we remember those who lost their lives in the boat accident on Lake Victoria on Saturday.#LakeVictoriaBoatAccident pic.twitter.com/Ky1KnQRQkQ
— UK in Uganda 🇬🇧 🇺🇬 (@UKinUganda) November 30, 2018
At least 35 bodies have been retrieved and 27 people rescued after Saturday’s boat tragedy, Unconfirmed reports say 60 people remain unaccounted for.
The boat reportedly carried more than 120 weekend revelers, beyond its 100 capacity from Port bell Luzira in the capital Kampala headed to Mutima Island on Lake Victoria
The dead 30 or so people were part of the probably 120 revellers aboard MV Templar, an unlicensed boat in a terrible condition that capsized killing many on November 24. I say probably because there was no manifest showing the exact number of people that boarded the fateful vessel. My guess is as good as yours.
Whatever we want to say, we Ugandans must change the way we think. We must learn to demand proper services from those that are mandated to provide them, whether in the public service or private sector. The only reason people decide to risk their lives on a ramshackle boat is because it is our nature never to ask questions. To think that respectable people like Prince David Wasajja, Freeman Kiyimba, Hope Mukasa and the like could accept to be squeezed with those youngsters, most of them not wearing any safety jackets, on a rickety boat, is bewildering.
Maybe, just maybe, if someone had asked a few questions those young people would not have died.
May their souls rest in peace! Yes may they rest in peace, but not for us to sweep the tragedy under the carpet and wait for another disaster then turn into experts for a few days and when we have vented enough life goes back to normal.
We don’t have to continue dying out of sheer negligence, because of our “I don’t care” attitude. For starters we should begin caring. Caring about our lives, about those that worry about us (i.e. spouses, parents, children…), those we offer services, the younger people and all. It makes no sense to show our care when we have already lost lives.
Many revellers on that boat had not bothered to inform their immediate family that they were headed for a party on the boat. Imagine how shocking the news was to the people in that category.