The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has written to the Town Clerk, Makindye Ssabagabo to mobilize all residents residing in the section of Munyonyo – Busabala wetland for a meeting scheduled on Saturday 31st August, 2024 at 2:00 PM at Buggu.
In the letter, NEMA informed the Town Clerk that following its environmental monitoring inspections on the section of Munyonyo- Busabala, it was established that areas of Kabuuma, Buggu ‘A’ and ‘B’ villages have been “extensively encroached on and degraded by some people who establish settlements hence threatening the ecological balance and sustainability of the wetland.”
This comes less than two months after NEMA conducted enforcement operations in Nansana with the goal of restoring the Lubigi wetland.
During the enforcement activities in Lubigi, NEMA demolished hundreds of homes and businesses, leaving many residents and business owners in distress.
In June, NEMA announced that the evictions would not be confined to Nansana but rather expanded to cover the entire Kampala metropolitan area.
It added that the scope of the operation would eventually extend to wetlands across the entire country.
Wetlands cover 11% of Uganda’s land area, but they are rapidly reducing due to encroachment.
Lubigi wetland is the largest system serving Kampala City and the neighboring districts to the North and Western Parts of the city.
The wetland system serves as a critical water catchment area for the central region and is a major source of water for the water-stressed areas of the cattle corridor in Central Uganda.
The wetland is critical for flood regulation and pollution control as well as habitat for critical biodiversity including the national bird, the Grey Crowned Crane.
Under the provisions of the National Environment Act Cap. 181, NEMA, in exercising its statutory mandate, is conducting a detailed profiling and mapping of the affected area, issuing Restoration Orders and subsequent restoration of the degraded area.
In July, President Museveni ruled out any compensation for people forcibly evicted from wetlands by NEMA.