One swamp’s destruction, a future generation’s problem

Many of them operate like thieves in the night; you will rarely hear or see them come. It is only after you wake up in the morning that you will see their prints. In the case of the thieves, you will notice a broken windowpane or padlock or the missing household items. In the case of wetlands, you will usually see mounds of earth and tyre treads.

Individuals and in some cases, the government contribute to the pollution of or the degradation of wetlands with concrete structures oblivious of consequences their actions will have on the future generations.

Lubigi wetland is one of the water catchment areas suffering the mindless missteps of developers.
The wetlands that stretches from the northern to the western fringes of Kampala benefits nearby communities in more than one way. Were it not for Lubigi, many homes in the surrounding would suffer from floods now and then. Some of the people who live nearby use the water from the wetland to make bricks for sell.

The wetland also sieves out some of the pollutants say, plastic materials that have been carried from elsewhere.

Despite all the above benefits, the wetland is under destruction. In the last eight years, the government has so far undertaken four major projects on the wetland. First, was the Kampala Northern Bypass Highway whose construction started in 2009.
Second, was the high voltage electric cables carrying power (132kV) from the Kawanda electricity sub-station to the Mutundwe sub-station.

Third, was the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) water treatment plant, which was built in the middle of the wetland and recently, is the ongoing construction of the Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway. All these projects are of course stressing Lubigi’s eco system.

Apart from government projects, individuals have followed the same path and reclaimed the very important water catchment wetland that serves Kampala and the Wakiso districts. In August, this reporter visited the wetland that connects Nakivubo Channel to Lake Victoria, and found trucks pouring soil into the wetland.

The soil, which had been collected from elsewhere, was being poured in the wetland so that people could construct houses, and open washing bays and the sand selling points in the reclaimed parts.
Some of the people who live nearby told the Daily Monitor that they started seeing the trucks last year.
Trucks would pour soil on the section of the wetland on Hoima Road. As the days, weeks and months went by, they started pouring soil deeper into the wetland and this contributed to the receding water level in the wetland.

One residents’ claims
John Bbossa, a resident of Nabweru Lubigi, claims that before National Water Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) built its treatment plant in the area, the land on which his house sits was not swampy. “Before the construction of the NWSC treatment plant, Nabweru was not a wetland. But now, the water flows into our homes; you may think we reclaimed it,” Bbossa says. He accuses NWSC of diverting the flow of the wetland into their plots.

Despite protests from area residents, NWSC has not heeded to pressure to widen the drainage channel to divert water from flooding their homes.

Sam Apedel, the NWSC Public Relations Officer, argues that the government approved the treatment plant after an environment impact assessment had been done. “People need to understand the relationship between this plant and the environment. Why should we leave dirty water flowing into Lake Victoria? This is a special plant that even collects faeces from latrines and it has reduced flooding in Bwaise,” he says.

In defence of some projects
However, Micheal Opige, the programme manager of Nature Uganda, says proper assessment on how to mitigate flooding was not undertaken and voices that pushed for assessment of the impact on surrounding areas were silenced by the State. “We tried to talk to government about the impact of destroying this wetland but they hurriedly approved these projects,” Opige says.

Prof Oweyegha Afunaduula, an environmentalist, warns that the current generation may not feel the impact of wetland destruction but the next one will curse those who destroyed the wetlands. “You may fight nature but you cannot win. You cannot build in a wetland and think nature will not punish you. It is just a matter of time,” Prof Afunaduula says.

He adds that even though Uganda has many good laws on the environment, government departments and some powerful business people disregard the laws because they know they will not be punished for flouting them.

The effects
Afunaduula warns that the continuous ecological destruction will lead to worse forms of soil erosion that deplete the soil of nutrients necessary for plant growth resulting into poor yields and increase flooding.

He cites the frequent floods in Kampala, particularly on Jinja Road and in the suburb of Bwaise whenever it rains, and the overflowing of River Nyamwaba in Kasese District as examples that should awaken policy makers to avoid environmental destruction.

The benefits from the swamps

The papyrus that grows in the expanse are raw materials for making mats and baskets which is a source of income for many households, as well, as, these residents cultivate yams on the fringes of the wetland.
The wetland’s fresh water is also a breeding ground for mudfish, a rich in protein delicacy that happens to come at pocket friends prices.

As for tourism, Lubigi is home to rare bird species -such as the shoebill - that attracts some foreign tourists. Tourism contributes nine per cent to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product - the sum of all final goods and products produced in the country.

The efforts in place to mitigate the destruction

A new United Nations report on climate change, which was released in March, warns that temperature and rainfall patterns as a result of global warming could lead to an 84 per cent increase of food prices by 2050.

The report further attributes wars and natural disasters to changes in environment and notes that most governments are unprepared to protect those most at risk. Uganda acknowledged, in 1986, the need for wetlands management; it banned further wetland conversion until 1989, when it established the National Wetlands Conservation and Management Programme (NWP) to manage wetlands. And the 1995 Constitution recognises wetlands among the protected natural resources for the citizens.

The law also establishes Wetlands Inspection Division in the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment, a key lead Agency for wetland management in Uganda. The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the districts too have some residual powers to manage wetlands.

But are these authorities carrying out their mandate?
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) executive director, Dr Tom Okurut, said at a recent debate on sustainability of Lake Victoria, that the body he heads had cancelled several titles in wetlands despite Nema being understaffed, and has meager budgets, which are some of the reasons he cited for inefficiency of the environmental watchdog.

Nema spokesperson, Naome Karekaho, says Nema is currently demarcating all wetlands in Kampala for easy management.

Environment and Water minister Prof Ephraim Kamuntu at a four-day performance assessment of the water sector in Kampala last week, raised some concerns. “I have a feeling the sector [water and environment] management is not being prioritised as the Infrastructure Sector despite its contribution to national development,” Prof Kamuntu said, pointing out though that it was not time to disagree with his colleagues in government publicly.

Bogdan Stefanescu, the head of European Union section of Rural Development Uganda, said the current allocations to the environment is unrealistics. “The current national budget allocations for environment and natural resources remains low even when the sub sector underwrites 91 per cent of livelihoods in Uganda and provides energy for more than 90 per cent of its population,” Stefanescu, said at the 6th joint review of water and environment sector.

But should all the wetlands be destroyed as we wait for increment in budget allocations?
Prof Kamuntu said the Cabinet took a resolution early this year to cancel all titles in wetlands without compensation, adding that Ugandans have failed to grasp basic environment science management taught at primary level. He says several wetlands have been demarcated in Kampala, Iganga and in other places to save future generations.

But Stefanescu said government must not only increase budget allocations to enforce environmental management but also respond to reasons why people are reclaiming the wetlands. He cites the growing population and unemployment that are making many people to damage the environment for agriculture purposes, [livestock grazing and farming], construction either for building roads, bridges or homes and businesses.

The State minister for Environment, Flavia Munaaba on her part warned recently that destruction of resources, particularly Lake Victoria, might degenerate into community and inter-state war as people will be deprived of their livelihood.

She said measures like demarcating wetlands and acting on encroachers could go a long way in tackling the degradation of wetlands, forests and other water bodies but decried of inefficiency law enforcement.
Sustainable use of wetlands may help the government attain the United Nations-set Millennium Development Goal Seven that seeks to ensure environmental sustainability for ecological and aquatic ecosystems.

Discussing the future of the wetlands at the moment is inevitable and enforcement agents should act and given all support in handling encroachers who use wetlands for setting up factories and settlements despite abundant land elsewhere.

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