More than 40 people have been confirmed dead following a series of devastating landslides that struck the mountainous border region between Kenya and Uganda last week. Dozens more remain missing as rescue teams continue frantic search efforts amid fears of further landslides due to ongoing heavy rains.
“I lost a grandmother, a maternal aunt, an uncle, two sisters, a family friend and a cousin. They were staying together in Kaptul village,” said 30-year-old Felix Kemboi from Kenya’s side of the border, struggling to describe the scale of his grief.
Across both countries, survivors are recounting harrowing experiences as torrential rains triggered deadly mudslides that swept away homes, schools, and entire families.
In Kenya’s Great Rift Valley region, two major mudslides killed dozens, including 14 schoolchildren, according to the country’s education ministry. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen has warned that persistent rainfall continues to heighten the risk of further landslides, particularly along the Kerio Valley. He urged residents to stay alert to signs of ground movement and said authorities are relocating vulnerable communities to higher ground.
In eastern Uganda, survivors described being jolted awake in the middle of the night by the sound of collapsing hillsides. “We were sleeping at night when we heard a huge sound. The neighbours came running, shouting, ‘Wake up! The mountain is coming!’ My niece and brother died,” said Helda Narunga Masai, whose home in Kween village was destroyed. She is now sheltering with neighbours after losing nearly everything.
In nearby Kapchorwa, three children and a woman from the same family were killed, while rescue teams continue to search for missing people across Kapchorwa, Bukwo, and Kween districts. The Uganda Red Cross has confirmed at least 18 deaths so far, with 20 people still unaccounted for. Local leader Mande David Kapcheronge told the BBC that rescuers are using simple tools and bare hands to dig through thick mud and debris.
Experts have long cautioned against settlement in the steep, erosion-prone slopes of eastern Uganda and western Kenya, where landslides are a recurring threat. In 2010, a massive landslide in Bududa, Uganda, killed around 300 people — one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters.
The Ugandan government has announced financial assistance to victims’ families, offering 5 million shillings ($1,300) to each bereaved family and 1 million shillings to survivors. However, the Kenyan government has yet to announce any compensation or relief package.
Rescue efforts in both countries have been hampered by blocked roads and difficult terrain, with several affected communities still cut off by mud and flooding. Authorities and aid agencies are racing against time to locate survivors before more rain falls on the already unstable hillsides.