UWA accused of extending park boundaries to grab land

Residents living around Mt Elgon National Park in Mbale District have accused the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) of altering the park boundaries to grab their land.
The residents from Bubyangu, Bufumbo, Budwale, Wanale and Busano sub-counties have since petitioned the district chairperson, Mr Bernard Mujasi, over the matter.
They say UWA officials incorporated their land into the park during the ongoing exercise of planting boundary marks in the area.
Mr Badru Mafabi, a resident of Bubyangu Village in Bubyangu Sub-county, said during a meeting of the affected families in Kilayi Village on Friday, that they were disappointed after they found a team of UWA officials planting pillars in their land without their knowledge.
“The UWA officials have tempered with the land demarcations that we had agreed upon during the reopening of the park boundaries and now they are grabbing our land. We will not allow it to happen,” Mr Mafabi said.
The reopening of the park boundaries, which started in 2017, aims at bringing to an end the longstanding conflicts between UWA and neighbouring communities.
Mr Tabu Wakibi, another resident, said they decided to hold a peaceful protest through Mbale Town on Saturday because UWA abandoned the 1993 boundary plan.
“The government and UWA officials have mismanaged the 1993 boundary plan and they have come up with a new one so that they easily grab our land,” he said.
The Bubyangu Sub-county chairperson, Mr Abdul Magidu Busito, on Saturday urged President Museveni to intervene.
“They [UWA] are treating our people like they are not Ugandans. They have on numerous occasions cut their crops without remorse,” Mr Busito said.
The district speaker, Mr Muhammad Mafabi, said it is unfortunate that government is looking on as UWA takes people’s land.
“We are determined this time to do what it takes to save people’s land,” Mr Mafabi, said.
Mr Mujasi also wondered why UWA is not respecting the 1993 boundary demarcation plan.
However, the Mt Elgon conservation area manager, Mr Frederick Kiiza, said the demarcation is being done in accordance with the gazetted boundaries.
“We are following the official gazetted boundary, which was approved by Parliament. We are not planting pillars in the residents’ land,” Mr Kiiza explained.
Mr Kiiza added that they have successfully opened the boundaries in other districts neighbouring the national park and wondered why it is Mbale raising concern.
“I don’t know what is special about Mbale District but as UWA, we shall continue opening up the boundary without fear or favour,” he said on Saturday.

About the park

Admission. Mt Elgon Park is 1,121 square kilometres in size and covers Bukwo, Kween, Kapchorwa, Bududa, Manafwa, Namisindwa, Bulambuli, Mbale and Sironko districts. It was gazzetted in 1993. An October 2018 report by the Lands ministry revealed that the residents had encroached on more than 6,746 hectares of park land while the UWA had also encroached on about 2,000 hectares of land belonging to the community.