Over 1000 families given 21 days to vacate Entebbe wetland or face eviction by NEMA

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has given a 21-day ultimatum to over 1000 families that encroached on Namiiro wetland in Lugonjo Nakiwogo village in Entebbe Municipality to leave the wetland or face eviction

In a June 8, 2020 letter by the NEMA Executive Director, Tom Okurut, their January and May inspections found out that the encroachers have continuously degraded the wetland by digging drainage channels, depositing murram, erecting illegal structures, fencing it off to obstruct free public access to it and introducing of foreign plant and animal species which destroy the wetland.

“You are, therefore, ordered to comply with the following environmental protection improvement orders; stop immediately any further soil/murram dumping and any other form of degradation, vacate the wetland with immediate effect, demolish all the structures you have erected in the wetland, and restore them as near as possible to its original state,”

Okurut wrote in the letter copied to the Inspector General of Police, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water and Environment, Entebbe RDC, Entebbe mayor, town clerk, and the commandant Environmental Police Protection Unit.

“You are given 21 days from the date of receipt of this restoration order within which to comply. Failure to comply with the above directives shall result in this authority or any other person authorised, taking all the necessary action against you including criminal prosecution to ensure that the above directives are complied with.”

According to Dr.Okurut, NEMA may be forced to recover as a civil debt in court the expenses incurred in enforcing the restoration order for the wetland having been degraded by the encroachers.

Nicholas Magara, the coordinator of wetlands in the central region under the Ministry of Water and Environment said the encroachers had been warned earlier to get off the wetland but had not heeded to the call.

He said that the recently rising water levels in Lake Victoria have necessitated the need to speed up the eviction process of the encroachers.

“After going through all other processes for due diligence and to make sure that there’s enough information for encroachers before evicting them, this is the final document that is warning them to vacate so that the wetland can be restored to gain its original glory to serve its purposes,” Magara said.

“If anyone occupied before the NEMA Act of 1995 and has a land little, he or she will be compensated but if they occupied after that period, then no compensation and all the land titles will be canceled.”

However, according to the locals, they have spent a lot of time at their current residences that they say were bought and given land titles.

They insist that it will be unfair for NEMA to evict them.

“The eviction order has come at a time when we have been greatly affected by the lockdown. It will be unfair to evict us during this time,” Paul Musoke said.

“We are warning them. In case they come back here, let them come with enough manpower,” said one Jamada Tabula.

Namiiro has been encroached on by locals since 2006 who started by laying bricks from the wetland before they later constructed houses.

The 1000 hectare wetland has seen almost a quarter of it occupied by at least 5000 people.

Other wetlands that have been degraded in Entebbe include Mabamba, Nambigirwa, Lutembe, and Nagadya.