Fishermen want soldiers off L. Kyoga over illegal fishing

Local leaders and fishing communities in Nakasongola District have called for the withdraw of soldiers under the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU), accusing them of engaging in illegal fishing, for which they were deployed to fight on Lake Kyoga.

They claim the soldiers use outlawed boats and fishing gear at particular secured water areas and deny fishermen from accessing  them.

“Our people are very disappointed that the FPU soldiers have abandoned their role of securing the lake from illegal fishing and are using the outlawed small boats, among other illegal fishing gear. The local fishermen, who  have the standard boats, are not allowed to fish in areas that the soldiers have secured,” Ms Mariam Nabutaka, the former district female councillor for Lwampanga Sub-county,  said on Wednesday .

Abandon trade
Fishermen around the affected landing sites such as Kikoiro and Kibuye have reportedly abandoned the fishing activity.

“We bought the boats at an estimated Shs1.7 million each, we are not  making any money because we have been limited to particular areas where the mature fish has since migrated. Government should quickly address this challenge,” Mr Moses Ssenkandwa, a fisherman at Kibuye fish landing site, said.

Mr Moses Ssekidde, a fisherman at Lwampanga Landing Site, advised government to empower the local fishing community committees to oversee fishing activities. “These roles are not meant to be undertaken by soldiers. Even the fishermen registration process was done by the soldiers. This gave them an upper hand to engage in the lucrative fishing business since they had direct access to the lake,” Mr Ssekidde said.

“We are now at the mercy of the soldiers who now decide on which particular areas our boats should be deployed. Government should quickly investigate this problem. Our humble appeal is to have the soldiers withdrawn and possibly have a new team of soldiers deployed,” he said.

However, Mr Sam Kigula, the district chairperson, said the army leadership  has given them assurance that soldiers engaged in illegal fishing are being investigated.

“The allegation that some soldiers have become fish dealers is very disturbing. The good news is that the UPDF has already replaced the FPU commandant after the complaints. We hope the ongoing investigation will yield results,” he said.
The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso, said she is not aware of the investigation, but promised to inquire and get back to us but had not by press time.

Ever since President Museveni deployed soldiers to crackdown on illegal fishing in 2017, they have on several occasions been criticised over their high-handedness in dealing with people suspected of engaging in illegal fishing . Many people suspected of dealing in immature fish have reportedly been tortured, some killed and several ungazetted landing sites destroyed on the shores of lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Albert.

Background
On July 27 last year, government lifted the fishing ban on Lake Kyoga  after  FPU cleared more than 80 per cent of the illegal fishing gear.  

The fishermen complained of slow boat registration and distribution of the standard boats. The fishermen claimed that the Shs1.7 million charged for the new boats was exorbitant basing on the fact that they had been out of business for more than two years.

Although 23,000 fishing boats  were operating on the lake before government deployed the soldiers, only 11,000 have been cleared. Illegal fishing, according to Ministry of Agriculture, involves using less than five-inch fishing nets for Tilapia and less than seven-inch fishing nets for Nile Perch.

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