Relief as UPDF returns impounded boat engines to Kalangala fishermen
Capt Fredrick Mwondah, the commandant of FPU (right) during hand over boat engines to owners at Mwena Landing site on Febuary 19, 2022 PHOTO | SYLVESTER SSEMUGENYI
What you need to know:
- According to the FPU commandant, Capt Fredrick Mwondah, the impounded boat engines have been returned to the owners after a written commitment that they would not engage in illegal fishing activities again.
A section of fishermen at the islands of Jaana, Miyana, Bubeke, Nkose, Mazinga and Mabigo in Bujumba Sub County can breathe a sigh of relief after the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) under the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, returned 80 boat engines that were impounded a year ago.
To repossess the boat engines, owners were required to present documents of right ownership like receipts or purchasing agreements.
However, some fishermen failed to present clear documents to confirm ownership for the engines or boats.
According to the FPU commandant, Capt Fredrick Mwondah, the impounded boat engines have been returned to the owners after a written commitment that they would not engage in illegal fishing activities again.
“We are not at war with you (fishermen), you are free to take your engines, but if the same gears are impounded, there will be no hope to see them again,” Capt Mwondah told fishermen on Saturday.
He further urged fishermen and local leaders to support their renewed efforts to fight illegal fishing on Lake Victoria.
“Fighting illegal fishing should be a collective responsibility since this water source benefits us all,” he added.
Mr Apollo Mugume, the Kalangala Resident District Commissioner (RDC), implored fishermen to develop a sense of ownership for the lake and report unscrupulous people who have infiltrated their business.
“The only way we can curb illegal fishing is working together, this is your lake and you should guard it jealously,” he said.
"I am happy to get back my boat engine, I had completely lost hope," Mr Simon Ssebyala, one of the fishermen, said.
President Museveni in 2017 established the FPU to crack down illegal fishing in the country.
By the time soldiers were deployed on the lakes to fight illegal fishing, Uganda’s fish exports had begun to decline.
Nile perch catches declined by 46 per cent from 2011 to 2015 while tilapia catches were lower by 38 per cent during the same period, according to Uganda’s National Fisheries Resources Research Institute’s fisheries catch assessment survey.
However, soldiers under FPU have on several occasions been criticized over their high-handedness in dealing with people suspected of engaging in illegal fishing.
