- Bujagali Falls
Bujagali Falls (or "Budhagali", according to the dialect of the
Basoga tribe living in the area) is awaterfall nearJinja inUganda where theNile River comes out ofLake Victoria , sometimes considered the source of the Nile.Proposed dam
An acute electricity crisis is impacting the livelihoods of millions of Ugandans and threatens the country’s development. Hospitals, schools, businesses, and residences suffer daily power shortages, which have stunted Uganda’s economic growth by an estimated one percent of the country’s gross domestic product. The Bujagali hydropower project is a proposed 250MW
hydropower facility on the Victoria Nile in Uganda that would help address the country’s energy crisis. The project supports Uganda’s broader development strategy, which focuses in large part on improving the investment climate to promote growth and reduce poverty.Others say the costly dam’s power would not meet the needs of the vast majority of the country’s population, would drown a sacred waterfall, and could do further harm to Lake Victoria, the world’s largest tropical lake.The Bujagali doctor
The falls are said by local residents to be the site of a spirit, called the "Spirit of Bujabald," who protects the community by performing rituals at the falls. The spirit is embodied in a man, Jaja Bujabald, who lives next to the falls; he is the thirty-ninth person to be the spirit.Linaweaver, Stephen (1999). Falling for AES's plan? Uganda debates damming the Nile. "Multinational Monitor" 20(6).]
The meanwhile 95-year-old man worked as a doctor preferably using local plants and herbs. Lots of people report to have seen him walking over the water.Fact|date=August 2007 Indeed he seemed to be able to pass the falls where others didn't dare to go.
During the
Rwandan genocide in 1994, dead bodies, dumped in the lake, remained in the rocks of the falls; Bujagali removed and buried them.His prophecy is that many people will have to die and others will fall mad if nature is destroyed and the dam will be built.
References
External links
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12742926 Eastern Uganda Grapples with Power Plant Project]
* [http://www.worldbank.org/bujagali/ World Bank Group and Bujagali]
* [http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/africa/bujagali-dam-uganda Internationals Rivers' Informative page on Bujugali]
* [http://www.fairfundfoundation.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=27/ The story of the Bujagali Hydropower Project]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/amitashyam/2749705938/ Latest Flickr Photo]
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