Buvuma Island

Buvuma Island (locally 'Uvuma') refers to a Lake Victorian island chain and the chain's largest island.

Location

This chain of more than fifty islands is located a few kilometres off the northern shore of Lake Victoria, Uganda in the Napoleon Gulf. Buvuma lies some 25 km south of the major city of Jinja, and around 90 km east of the capital Kampala. It is part of the wider Busoga region, and was administered as part of Mukono but was recently made into a district of its own by the Government of the Republic of Uganda.

Description

The main island is Buvuma, with a land area of around 200 square-miles (517 km²), and a population of around 20,000. It is forested, and is a destination for intrepid bird-watching tourists. The forest is being cut and burned to provide three boats a day full of charcoal for the nearby city of Jinja. There are twenty-six gazetted Forest Reserves in Buvuma.

Transportation, Economy and Health

There is a somewhat unreliable ferry to the mainland. There are also unofficial small boat services from Kiyindi, a major fish-landing village on the shores of Lake Victoria. The area is very poor compared to other parts of Uganda, since funds allocated to it are often 'diverted' before they even reach the island. There are two health centres, but no electricity on the island. Sleeping sickness and tsetse flies are problems. The waters around the islands are rich in fish, and the local Ruvuma and Soga peoples are fishermen.

Education and Religion

Most adults are illiterate, and speak no English (the official language of Uganda). One third of the population is Muslim, one third is animist and the other one third is Christian.

There is a strong missionary presence on the Buvuma Islands. The longest running missionary project is Youth With A Mission (YWAM) on Lingira [1]. They have a primary health care and community development project that has been running since 1991. On the island of Buvuma itself there is World Gospel Mission [2] which does some limited child immunization, clean water projects, trains traditional birth attendants, and sponsors a primary school. Both organizations are Christian based.

Parliamentary Representative

The Buvuma elected Parliamentary representative (2005) is Mr William Nsubuga.

Goeology and Deforestation

The islands are of ironstone formation overlying quartzite and crystalline schists. Other islands are Bugaia, Lingira (pop. 1000), and Namiti. Rusinga and Mfangano are within Kenyan borders. The 1911 Britannica said: "Most of these islands are densely forested, and some of them attain considerable elevation. Their scenery is of striking beauty." Except at the highest elevations, Rusinga and Mfangano are today largely deforested.

Tourism

Rusinga island is connected by a causeway to the mainland. There are a few tourist lodges, and the island is accessible via several roads leading from Kisumu and Homa Bay as well through the nearby Ruma National Park. It can be reached from the north by a dirt road from the Kakamega Forest or by air from the Maasai Mara.

Archaeological Research

Rusinga is rich in fossils, and Mary Leakey found the skull of Proconsul africanus on the island. The Miocene floras of Rusinga and Mfwanganu islands are subject to a long-term study by paleobotanists. There was an archaeological prospection carried out by the Tervuren Museum, Belgium, in 1968 (published 1971), on Buvuma and Bugaia islands at Munyama Cave, Tonge Cave, and Nakisito, plus another 47 sites. Pottery materials from 13,000 B.C. to 8,000 B.C. were found.