MP accused of forest destruction

The Hoima municipality Member of parliament Mr Lawrence Bategeka is being investigated by National Forestry Authority (NFA) officials for allegedly grazing cattle in a central forest reserve.

The NFA Budongo system manager Mr Stuart Maniraguha told journalists in Hoima town on Thursday that NFA field staff had impounded an estimated 200 heads of cattle said to belong to Mr Bategeka.

“We have arrested three herdsmen who were found illegally grazing in Bujaawe forest reserve. On interrogation, they claimed that they were grazing Mr Bategeka’s cows,” Maniraguha said.

Musiime Stephen, Daniel Tugume and Benon Taremwa are being detained at Hoima central police station pending further investigations, Police said.

Without confirming or denying the accusations against him, Mr Bategeka said he had not been briefed about the incident.
NFA officials have decried the increasing cases of interference in their work by Hoima District leaders.

RDC accused of assault
Meanwhile, the NFA Kisindi sector manager Mr Wilfred Tumwesige has accused the Hoima Resident District commissioner (RDC) Mr John Stephen Ekoom of assaulting him.
In a complaint filed at Hoima central police station under reference HMA/6110/01/2018, Mr Tumwesige claimed that on Wednesday, Mr Ekoom accompanied by soldiers and other security officials slapped him.

Tumwesige claimed that the RDC and the Hoima District chairperson Mr Kadir Kirungi had protested his decision to impound a truck of timber said to have been harvested from Bugoma forest reserve.

“We are here to register our protest against open intimidation and obstruction which we are getting from Hoima district leadership that would be supporting our work” Maniraguha told the news conference at the NFA office in Hoima town.

He said NFA field staff have on several occasions been instructed by district officials to release impounded timber trucks.

“We call upon the office of the RDC to take the lead as it has been doing in protecting the environment and cooperating with us,” Maniraguha said.

He said he had noted that there was a direct confrontation by the RDC against the NFA Kisindi sector manager who claims to have been assaulted.

Where the office of the RDC or district leaders feel our staff has something to answer, our staff can be called to order and reprimanded using lawful means, Maniraguha added.

The Albertine regional police spokesperson Mr Julius Hakiza confirmed that Hoima police had received a complaint of assault that was filed against the RDC.

“Investigations are still ongoing” Hakiza told the Daily Monitor.

The Hoima RDC Mr John Stephen Ekoom described the allegations against him as baseless and total lies.

“How can i the RDC do that?” Ekoom wondered.

He said the accusations leveled against him could be a ploy by implicated NFA officials to derail or divert people.

Accompanied by UPDF, DPC, DISO and other stakeholders, Mr Ekoom said he moved to Bugoma forest reserve to monitor illegalities in the forest reserve in line with a district security committee resolution to monitor and prevent environmental destruction.

“We did not assault anybody. All those issues could be organized to bring some of us into challenges” Ekoom said.

He claimed that some NFA field staff are bringing up allegations aimed at covering illegalities of cutting timber from forest reserves, extorting money from local people which the district security committee has uncovered in its investigations.

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