Will latest Nema intervention save wetlands?

Time seems to be fast running out to save the country’s remaining wetlands from degradation. Indeed, scientists and conservationists agree in unison that the current rate of wetland degradation is becoming a national crisis bringing about catastrophes like floods, poor water quality emanating from their alteration or total reclamations hitting or set to hit the country hard.
Paul Mafabi, the director of Environment in Ministry of Water and Environment, puts wetland destruction across the country at 30 per cent of the once flourishing home of flora and fauna a few years ago.

“And that is an estimate as we are still carrying out more assessment. The most affected areas are around lake Victoria and Kyoga,” Mafabi says.
The most affected districts include Kampala, Jinja, Kamuli and Masaka.
According to Mafabi, Uganda’s water quality and quantity is being compromised each day that passes and already many swamps and rivers are drying up because of wetlands reclamation.
Cases in point are rivers Mpologoma found along Mbale-Tirinyi highway in eastern Uganda and Rwizi, shared by Mbarara and Rakai districts whose size and water quality and quantity are diminishing due to siltation caused by destruction of the neighbouring wetlands.

Wetlands filter water from pollutants, their vegetation especially papyrus acts as a raw material in crafts making, habitant for several creatures like birds and reptiles that not only act as tourism attraction but also balance the bionetwork.
The latest intervention to avert Uganda from losing such valuable resources was unveiled last week by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) that strutted itself for the task of a nationwide restoration of wetlands.
Nema cut down gardens which had flourishing maize, cassava and yams as well as sugarcane plantations in Lubigi Wetland, northwest of Kampala.

Before the encroachment, the wetland was waterlogged with water drifting through the thick reeds and papyrus down to different channels leading to various water bodies including Lake Victoria and Kyoga, according to Micheal Opige, a conservationist whose organisation Nature Uganda, has worked in the area for decades.
But a big portion of the wetland was stilted during the dry season, turning it into an arable land.
Rehema Namujjuka, one of the affected settlers, acknowledges that they received warnings from environment officers through radio announcements and local council leaders two months ago demanding that they vacate but she could not leave her home since she “rightly owns” it with a land title measuring 50 by 100.

“I bought this land and I have a land title,” Namujjuka pleaded in vain, as compliance officers cut down her yams and marked her house in Busega, Wakiso District for demolition last week.
Namujjuka said she could not afford land cheaply near Kampala and was lucky when a friend tipped her about a cheap plot at the hinterland of Lubigi four years ago. She, however, never thought it was illegal to settle in the wetland.
Unfortunately for residents like Namujjuka, Nema officials revealed that the operation to restore the badly damaged wetland was prepared two months ago and will cover the gigantic Lubigi and slowly move to others that are facing the same destruction.
The exercise on the first day of restoration last week was calm with encroachers looking on as more than 300 acres of illegal plantations were mowed down by Nema officials.
The most affected parts of Lubigi according to Nema spokesperson, Naomi Karekaho, are Kyengera, Kikaya, Watooto and Mityana road near the Northern Bypass.

The big question
But how far will the exercise last considering that it will mean depriving encroachers of their source of livelihood without immediately addressing the drivers to encroachments? Key of the drivers includes soil infertility, population growth, long dry seasons, urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural purposes.
Onesmus Mugyenyi, the deputy executive director at Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), a non-government organisation says Nema has good intentions in chasing away encroachers from wetlands because of their crucial contribution to a sustainable growth and development.
He, however, argues that in carrying out that mandate, the environmental body is likely to face resistance especially in a country where politicians either own the wetlands or don’t want anyone to antagonise with voters despite grave repercussions in future.

“For Nema activities to be successful, they really have to win the hearts of politicians at all levels,” Mugyenyi says.
Karekaho agrees this is the ideal, but should not be a yardstick for the environment body to carry out their mandate which is enshrined in the law. She says the body is not inventing a new will in restoring the wetlands but rather building on what they have already achieved in the past years.
She lists Nyamuhizi wetland catchment in Mitooma District, Akadoti wetland in Kumi District, Ariet wetlands in Pallisa, and now parts of Lubigi wetland as examples to back the authority’s resolute to keep wetlands off encroachers.

Climate change
Some of the big shots that have been chased from the wetland include Kampala Central Division Mayor Godfrey Nyakana whose house in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb, was demolished by Nema in 2005. Nyakana went to court which upheld Nema’s decision.
Nature Uganda’s Opige says the country is facing visible climate change conditions like high heat waves, prolonged droughts and even when it rains, instead of people rejoicing many end up in tears as floods sweep their homes destroying lives and property due to destruction of wetlands where the water would settle.

The magic to stopping encroachments Opige says will involve addressing issues that drive people into wetlands particularly population growth and creating awareness that wetland destruction is indeed self-destruction.
Between December and January, official data from Uganda National Metrological Authority (UNMA) indicated that the country was getting hotter by the day.
Kampala, Wakiso and surrounding areas, for example experienced an intense heat wave which drove daytime temperatures to highs of 31.1°C since December 23.

The average mean daytime temperatures for Kampala is 28 °C and 17.3°C at night but the former had also risen to 20°C.
But the most important thing government should do according to Opige is to stop impunity of “big shots in government” who do things as they please without facing the law.
Opige adds it is not a question of good laws managing the environment but rather adhering to what is available.
He cites Section 36 of the National Environment Act which provides for protection of wetlands and prohibiting any person from reclaiming, erecting or demolishing any structure that is fixed in, on, under or above any wetland.

However, a 2014 Cabinet directive to cancel more than 17,000 land titles acquired in wetland has since stalled. Mugyenyi says the current annual population growth rate of 3.3 per cent means more people will move to expand their farms either for food or incomes including expanding into restricted areas.
The magic should “therefore be in controlling population and mass sensitisation of the public about the dangers of wetland degradation”.
Uganda’s population is estimated to be 35 million people and is projected to hit to 103.2 million by 2050.
“Nema is caught up in a difficult position. They have to carry out their mandate but evicting people who got titles in wetlands yet will require compensations,” Mugyenyi said.
When contacted, Lands minister Daudi Migereko said there is no way the ministry can issue titles in a wetland since even those that were acquired long ago, Cabinet in 2014 directed that they be cancelled. “The law requires that nobody acquires titles in a wetland and that is the government position. I need to look at those titles before I comment,” Migereko told this paper.

Under the computerised Land Information System launched a few years ago, the ministry is able to detect land in a wetland and the system automatically rejects titling such land.
The ministry hopes that when this exercise is rolled out across the country, it will stop people from acquiring such titles in gazetted or wetland areas.
Patrick Wamala, the LC1 chairperson of Busega, who witnessed the restoration in Lubigi wetland last week said the success of Nema activities will solely depend on the local leaders’ will to protect the environment for the next generation. “Many times we (politicians) can decide to incite people to resist such good cause. So, if we cooperate with environmentalists, they will succeed but if we don’t, they will fail,” Mr Wamala said.

Already, some leaders in Kyengera, Wakiso District, where restoration of Lubigi is ongoing, have attempted to mobilise locals against the environmentalists.
But Karekaho says encroachers in all wetlands across the country should vacate because no amount of resistance will deter them from conserving the wetlands for the good of the next generation.
“People should learn to use irrigation and leave wetlands alone,” Karekaho said.

Nema pulls down Nyakana’s house

On January 8, 2005, environmental inspectors from Nema demolished Kampala Central Division mayor Godfrey Amooti Nyakaana’s house in Bugolobi, Kampala, saying it was located on a wetland. This came after the inspectors gave Nyakana 21 days to raze the house and restore the wetland in vain.
As a result, Nyakana petitioned the Constitutional Court challenging the demolition of his house but lost the suit. Dissatisfied with the court ruling, Nyakana petitioned the Supreme Court challenging its ruling.
However, the Supreme Court in August last year upheld the Constitutional Court ruling, saying Nema was right to demolish Nyakana’s house.

The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe observed that in pulling down Nyakaana’s house from such a critical wetland, Nema was performing its constitutional mandate, adding that if it hadn’t done so, the State would have failed to protect the environment.
“In this case, the wetland in question has been characterised by Nema as a critical wetland around the capital city. It drains into Lake Victoria which has immense ecological and economic importance not only to the city but to the country and the region as a whole.” ruled Justice Katureebe.

Areas experience intense heat wave

Central. Kampala, Wakiso and surrounding areas, experienced an intense heat wave which drove daytime temperatures to highs of 31.1°C since December 23. The average mean daytime temperatures for Kampala is 28 °C and 17.3°C at night but the former had also risen to 20°C.
North. Gulu District which has a maximum temperature of 30.2°C rose to 31.1° C. Arua District with maximum of 29.1°C to 29.9°C.

Eastern. Jinja District which is near Lake Victoria, its temperatures rose by 0.3°C from 28°C to 28.3°C. Soroti in December recorded 31.3°C up from the maximum of 29.5°C. Tororo District where the 29°C maximum temperature of the District had risen by 0.9.
Western. Masindi District’s maximum temperature of 28°C has risen by 0.9°C. Mbarara District recorded 26°C a drop from 26.8°C, the district’s maximum temperature. Kabale District also recorded colder temperature of 23.6°C against the maximum of 24.4°C.