Govt orders residents in 11 villages to vacate Lubigi wetland

Government has issued a 21-day ultimatum to residents of 11 villages that have encroached on Lubigi wetland located northwest of Kampala.

Lubigi wetland is one of the many wetlands facing extinction despite its critical roles of filtering, retaining and controlling floods in and around the surrounding districts of Wakiso and Mpigi.
“Take notice that after 21st February, 2018, this authority or any other person authorized under the law shall take the necessary steps against you to ensure compliance with the legal provisions. You are therefore ordered to voluntarily vacate before 21 February 2018,” the Ministry of Water and Environment order reads in part.

The expansive wetland has for long been a soft target for encroachers who reclaim it for settlement, farming, bricklaying, washing bays and other activities.
Although it shields parts of Kampala as well as Wakiso District from flooding, in 2011 people claiming to be army veterans attempted to settle there but were stopped.

Again in 2013, a group of traders under Uganda Patriotic Voluntary Organisation (UPAVO) descended on the same wetland and started constructing stalls, claiming they had authorization from State House.

Recently officials from the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) warned that should this wetland disappear, the entire Central Cattle Corridor, which includes Luweero, Nakasongola and Nakaseke among other districts will not have water.

Ms Mary Gorreti Kitutu the state minister for Environment when contacted said hundreds of people over Christmas invaded the wetland, filled it with lay soil and set up houses while some converted it for agriculture.
“What the law requires of us is to issue restoration orders. So what was in the papers was a reminder for them to restore and get out of the wetlands in a period of 21 days,” Ms Kitutu said.
“If they do not [vacate], then we shall get them out of the wetland by force,” she added.

In 2016, Nema officials mowed down gardens of several food and cash crops such as cassava, potatoes, maize, and sugarcane in a bid to protect the wetland. However, several encroachers returned to the wetland.
Section 36 of the National Environment Act provides for protection of wetlands and prohibits any person from reclaiming, erecting or demolishing any structure that is fixed in, on, under or above any wetland.

Affected villages
The affected villages include Namugoona, Masanafu, Nakuuwade, Bulenge, Nansana, Nabweru, Kawala, Kyengera, Gganda, Bwaise and Busega.

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