Cutting a tree in your own compound could land you in jail, says Lord Mayor Lukwago

Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago has said under the new Kampala City Green Infrastructure ordinance, cutting trees both in public and private domain could land one into a six months jail term of shs40,000 fine or both.

“We have to strictly enforce the Green Infrastructure ordinance that once you plant a tree, you can’t just wake up and say you want to remove it. You have to get a permit from KCCA. Planting it is yours but removal is not yours. Once you have planted a tree, it becomes a public asset and must be cultivated into our value systems. It is like a kid, before you conceive, we have no business with you, but the moment you abort, the state will arrest you. The same will happen to cutting trees,”Lukwago said.

“The tree is no longer your property once you plant it. If you try to cut it, there will be punishments.”

The Kampala Lord Mayor made the revelation during the launch of a tree planting campaign by Liberty Life Assurance Uganda Limited in Kampala.

Lukwago said there is need to have a green city in Kampala and to this he said the new law will ensure the country’s capital has urban forests.

“We must reduce emissions in Kampala by 22% by the year 2030. One of the key interventions to address that is to adopt nature based strategy of curbing emissions through planting trees. We need to get a solution to the global challenge of climate change. In having the built environment, the law specifies that there should be a specific part of the land with a green environment.”

“We want to have certain corridors preserved for urban forests in Kampala. We are now reclaiming certain pieces of land where to have urban forests. We have been lauded as a green city but it pains me to note that there is no forest around Kampala.”

Lukwago said the initiative should be for everyone to plant a tree but insisted it should be mostly indigenous trees that are planted, rather than the exotic ones.

According to Frank Tindyebwa, the County Head at Liberty Health Uganda, the company doesn’t not only help in areas of financial services but also supporting in education and environmental preservations.

“Many a times, we plant trees and forget about them but this should change We should not plant trees and let cows, goats or even people uproot or cut them or else our energy will be wasted,”Tindyebwa said.

He said that the only way to preserve nature is through planting trees that not only give fruits but also help in containing the carbon emissions.

Tindyebwa said Liberty Health Uganda will always support efforts to replenish the environment.

During the event, Liberty Life Assurance Uganda in partnership with My Tree Initiative Uganda (MTIU), planted 50 trees along the Nakasero Road and Lumumba Avenue to embark on a new dawn after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This celebratory activity to plant 50 ornamental and urban trees was in honor to “Green areas where we live and work”.