The Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party has condemned the brutal eviction methods used by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) on wetland encroachers, stating that it should not wait till the settlement of people but rather put up strict rules on acquiring land in wetlands.
During a press conference that took place on June 26, 2024, at the party headquarters at Uganda House Kampala, Faizo Muzeyi, the party Head of Media and Communication, said that NEMA and other stakeholders, like local district councils, should put out clear guidelines on wetland encroachment.
“By the time someone puts up a building on a wetland, it means NEMA and other stakeholders did not do their jobs of stopping the encroachment before it was too late, then started rushing to destroy people’s properties,” he said.
Muzeyi added that NEMA should avoid selective eviction of the wetland encroachers, stating that this makes the organ lose credibility and trust from the people.
“We witnessed the selective eviction of victims during the eviction of people in Lubigi Swamp. Some houses were being destroyed while the police were protecting others. This makes the organ lose trust and credibility from the public,” he added.
Muzeyi noted that UPC welcomes the government’s idea of irrigation for modern farming, saying that it means that the government should protect wetlands as a water source and the people and their property.
“The government should protect wetlands by stopping the selective permitting of wetland encroachers, like we have seen big factories and companies being permitted to construct in wetlands. The government should also protect people and their properties as its mandate by allowing those affected by the eviction time to relocate before enforcement,” he noted.
This comes after NEMA called for a country-wide wetland eviction operation that started with the eviction of people from Lubigi Swamp. Dr. Barirega Akankwasah, the Executive Director of NEMA, called upon everyone encroaching on wetlands to vacate peacefully to avoid confrontation.
