Humanitarian crisis as NEMA battles with encroachers

For over the past few weeks, it has been a sorrowful period among Nansana residents as the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) moved to evict encroachers of Lubigi swamp in Nansana-Wakiso district.

Tears, hopelessness, homelessness have continued to this week as the eviction works continue, which raises potential concerns about a humanitarian crisis and the formation of Internally Displaced persons/camps, as both NEMA and government are seemingly unbothered about the arising humanitarian question. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end to the ‘humanitarian’ question as NEMA continues to mount evictions on wetland encroachers?

Voices are heard, tears are seen, newspapers have reported, televisions have broadcasted every day, as the evicted encroachers, seemingly hopeless, are calling upon the President and the Prime Minister to come up with emergency rescue arrangements for help. These are voices of Ugandans, well, not foreigners, whose hopes have been left blank after having been evicted from their homes. The able few have been seen erecting tents to have at least a piece of sleep, while others continue to sleep on bare earth with heavens as the shelter. Do government institutions, as well as security institutions care about these humanitarian concerns, and the potential security threats?

The security threats could affect both state and human security as there could be possibilities of peaceful demonstrations inspired by the homeless and hopeless evictees or ignited by local politicians, coupled with the possibility in the surge in crimes, as survival war ranges. Also, the possibility of disease outbreaks could worsen humanitarian concerns and human security.

This is not the first time for people in Lubigi swamp to be warned. In 2009, officers from NEMA and the Uganda Police Force displaced Bemba Musota, a witch doctor who had encroached on the wetland before another group occupied the swamp.

In May 2011, Anti-riot police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of vendors who had encroached on the same Lubigi swamp. This followed a directive from Hon Maria Mutagamba, the then minister for water and environment who directed the vendors to vacate Lubigi swamp promising to show them an alternative piece of land bought for them by President Yoweri Museveni to set up their market.

According to NTV and Daily Monitor, NEMA has warned all encroachers on wetland for the imminent evictions citing and warning Kinawataka and Nakawa residents as the next targets.  As the battle against wetland encroachers continues, there is something great enough to worry about whether these thousands or hundreds of thousands of Ugandan citizens will be left homeless and hopeless as seen in Lubigi. Is this threat manageable on both humanitarian and security grounds? Lol, I’m asking the authorities as a layman.

But as a profound security analyst, I should take the same chance to stop asking but to also warn the government institutions, the security, and the Intelligence agencies about the potential security and escalating humanitarian concerns that could erupt, and therefore call for an immediate action plan for evicted persons.

Can’t these citizens be given pollution licenses to at least pay for their pollution either monthly, or annually?

These could be in the form of resettlement, compensation, or at least a farewell package, or even pollution licenses. These Ugandans wronged by encroaching wetlands, in fact, they should be sorry to NEMA, but at least these citizens shouldn’t be treated as wild animals by the government, these are Ugandans. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end to the ‘humanitarian’ question as NEMA continues to mount evictions on wetland encroachers?

In conclusive notes, Uganda has suffered catastrophes arising from nature and earth, and has continued to battle the effects of climate change with huge spending in the docket of disaster preparedness every year. Floods, droughts, famines, landslides, hailstorms and change in seasons are a daily pattern for Uganda.

Therefore, Ugandans should not blame NEMA for evicting unlawful encroachers on wetlands, but rather blame the OPM for the situations handling and the ‘I don’t care’ mentality  about citizens like those affected in Lubigi until Major Magambo’s CID starts scrutinizing their deals and budget spending, and arresting their officials like he’s doing to Parliament.

But also, Ugandans should also be offered pollution licenses to enable them use the environment and pay for their pollution, like investors are given the same.

There’s also a great worry about the forest cover as the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and the Ugandan government themselves have continued to give offers to foreign and proxy-foreign investors for clearance to set up plantations of tea, sugarcane etc and factories. Also, some natural forest reserves were given to individuals in 2018 which were cleared and replaced by eucalyptus trees and pine. Encroachers have also continued to cut down forest reserves for timber, wood and cultivation which is also a threat to forest cover in Uganda and a great environmental concern.  Therefore, action plans to preserve the environment should be inevitable, well, but unselective

Richard Byamukama is a lawyer and a security studies scholar.