Wetland encroachers given 30 days to vacate

The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has given all wetland encroachers in Kakumiro District a 30-day ultimatum to vacate or they are forcibly evicted.
Nema’s natural resources management specialist Mr George Lubega Matovu issued the instructions while he addressed wetland encroachers during a consultative meeting held in the affected wetlands at the weekend.

Mr Lubega said Nema in collaboration with Kakumiro District local government have halted agricultural activities carried out in wetlands.
‘‘We want all these people to vacate these wetlands and give us space to rejuvenate them. We do not expect them to remain there because force will be used against them by arresting and prosecuting all the culprits before courts of law,’’ Mr Lubega warned.

Mr David Ndawuna, the law enforcement officer from Nema, said after a grace period of 30 days, wetland encroachers arrested shall be liable to pay Shs18 million fine or be imprisoned for three years.
The Kakumiro District natural resources officer, Mr Christopher Baguma, said the district has been warning the wetland encroachers for a long time and believes that the 30 days are enough for the affected individuals to remove their crops and vacate the wetlands.

Affected encroachers
The aggrieved Kabale and Kalangala wetland encroachers, however, expressed mixed reactions over pending eviction and pleaded for the extension of the grace period to harvest their crops and relocate the affected Mulinga Government Primary School in Katikara Sub-county.
The most affected wetlands are Kabale, Mabengera, Mpongo and Masaigi, among others.

One of the residents identified as Mr Jackson Tumushanga said: ‘‘We are asking Nema to give us more time to harvest all our crops and also plan for where we shall put our affected school. We also want them to show us clear boundaries of the wetlands because some of us bought land here.’’
The Kakumiro Resident District Commissioner, Mr Apollo Mugume, said the wetland encroachers should not be hoodwinked by politicians who ask for money on the pretext of advocating for the stay in the wetlands.

‘‘This is a new season and people tend to encroach on wetlands for farming activities. However, we do not want them to waste time because we are coming to get them out,’’ Mr Mugume said.
Nema is currently driving the campaign of restoring and rejuvenating the degraded catchment areas of River Kafu in four districts of Kakumiro, Kiboga, Kyankwanzi and Hoima.

Environment act
Section 36 subsection (1) of the 1995 National Environment Act of Uganda states that no person shall reclaim or drain any wetland; erect, construct, place, alter, extend, disturb any wetland by drilling or tunnelling in a manner that has or is likely to have an adverse effect on the wetland.

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