By Weswa Ronnie
MANAFWA
The Uganda National Meteorological Authority under the Ministry of Water and Environment has started engaging leaders from different districts across the Bugisu region on weather forecasting.
So far, they have met leaders including LC3 chairpersons, sub-county chiefs, LCV chairpersons, Chief Administrative Officers and farmers from Namisindwa, Bududa and Manafwa districts.
Speaking on Wednesday, 21st October, 2026, during an engagement at Manafwa District headquarters, Godwine Ayesiga, who represented the Commissioner at the Ministry of Water and Environment, said they discovered that farmers are incurring losses after planting crops without getting information on weather forecasts.
He said Uganda has been losing a number of people after being buried by landslides because they fail to know the exact period when high rains are coming in order to prepare by vacating to safer places.
Ayesiga added that they are moving to all Bugisu districts to inform leaders on ways and channels of getting accurate weather forecast information from the Meteorological Authority to inform the public.
Sulaji Ahamed from the Ministry of Water and Environment said they forecasted last season that the country was going to experience drought, but many people did not believe the information while others did not get it, which led farmers to incur losses in the last harvest season.
He said if farmers had followed their information and delayed planting, they would not have made those losses.
He said they have started bringing services closer to the people by extending services to local governments through setting up weather stations at district level so that farmers and the general public can be updated about weather forecasts daily or monthly.
He also said they are encouraging the media to always update the general public about daily weather forecasts, since all media houses can access daily updates from their websites.
William Munyu, the Manafwa District Chief Administrative Officer, expressed happiness over the extension of services to the district local government, saying this will serve as an alert to farmers and locals.
Kosea Kigayi Kimono, the Manafwa District LCV Chairperson, said he has been losing people in landslides in sub-counties like Butoto and Bunabutsale among others due to lack of weather forecast information.
He said their ancestors used to forecast weather using signs such as seeing white birds and intense heat to predict the coming of rains and start preparing gardens for the planting season, which is no longer reliable these days due to climate change, but since the Meteorological Authority is bringing services closer to the people, it is going to help farmers to plan.
