Bamugemereire tasks Sebalamu to present Lwera land acquisition documents

KALUNGU. The head of the commission of inquiry into land matters, Justice Catherine Bamugemeire, has tasked city businessman, Mr John Sebalamu, to present documents of ownership of the vast chunk of land in Lwera wetland, where he engages in sand mining and fish farming.

While touring various sand mining sites in the heavily degraded Lwera swamp on Tuesday evening, Justice Bamugemereire said she was shocked that the wetland is being claimed by individuals.
“I want you to present all the documents that show that you legally got the two square miles in a wetland, including copies of mining permits from the Environment Management Authority , which you claim authorized you to carry out sand mining," Justice Bamugemereire said.

The demand for the documents followed Mr Sebalamu’s bold and confident explanation to the commission that he owns the land on which he carries out sand mining and fish farming.
Owning land titles in a wetland by individuals is contrary to 1995 Constitution that stipulates that wetland is public land.
“The two square miles, one in Mpigi and another one in Kalungu are legitimately mine. I bought it in 2010 from the late Mayanja Nkangi (former chairperson Uganda Land Commission) and Mr Vincent Sempijja, the Agriculture Minister, respectively, and whatever I’m doing on it ,is legal,” Mr Sebalamu told the Commission.

When asked by one of the commissioners, Mr Fred Ruhindi, if he knew it was wrong buying land in a wetland and it is illegal to own it,Mr Sebalamu said he could not personally tell whether the ladn he owned was a wetland because he was authorised by Nema and district environment officers from both Mpigi and Kalungu .
"I believed that whatever I was doing was legal since the environment authorities permitted me to do so and after excavating sand, I turned the sandpits into fish ponds,"Mr Sebalamu told the Commission

The seven- member commission of inquiry also quizzed Kalungu District Environment officer, Mr Richard Vvubya why wanton wetland degradation is going on under his watch.
However, Mr Vvubya told the commission that Lwera is not officially gazetted as a wetland and therefore he has no basis of stopping the encroachers .
“Nothing shows that this is a wetland. We advised Nema over such activities (sand mining and fish farming) but they never complied ,” Mr Vvubya responded
He further claimed that part of Lwera wetland is privately owned and could not regulate whatever was going on however illegal it was.

Last year, the parliamentary committee on Natural Resources halted sand mining activities in Lwera wetland saying the companies and individuals engaging in this business were adversely depleting the environment without considering any mitigation measures.
Lwera wetland which stretches about 20kilometres, is a major water catchment area that connects several rivers and wetlands in Gomba, Mpigi and Kalungu Districts and drains directly into Lake Victoria.

Sand mining has of recent become a lucrative business due to the swiftly growing construction sector where it is used to make concrete.
Recently, environmentalists raised concern over the increasing sand mining in major swamps in the country like Lwera, saying excessive excavation of sand will spark off a serious ecological disaster.

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