Bugoma encroachment crackdown sees over 100 arrests since UWA takeover

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More than 100 people from different parts of Bunyoro have been arrested by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for allegedly carrying out illegal activities in Bugoma National Park.

According to Fred Kiiza, the chief warden of the Murchison Falls Conservation Area, the suspects were arrested on different occasions while cultivating land, burning charcoal and cutting timber within the protected area.

Kiiza made the revelation on June 9, 2026, during the launch of the restoration of 12.77 square miles of land that forms part of the 22 square miles of Kyangwali ancestral land leased by the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom to Hoima Sugar Ltd for sugarcane growing for 99 years.

Representing UWA executive director Dr James Musinguzi, Kiiza said that since UWA took over management of the forest, activities such as cultivation, charcoal burning, timber cutting and unauthorised entry into the forest had been prohibited.

He noted that all the suspects arrested had been transferred to the Kampala Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court for trial.

“As I talk today over 100 people from Bunyoro have been arrested in this area because of tree cutting, charcoal burning, cultivation, entering the forest and transporting charcoal along the road and whoever has his staff, child or relative and you are aware that he or she was arrested, follow them up to Kampala utility court, because we do not manage them from here,” he said.

He added that several security personnel had been deployed in the area and continue to patrol the park to prevent encroachers from entering it.

Kiiza said police officers and UPDF soldiers are allowed to be deployed in the area without undergoing scrutiny by UWA.

He explained that the measures are intended to prevent what he described as a "blue fire" in the park, adding that the area is now solely managed by UWA.

Dr Barirega Akankwasah, the executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), directed that maize planted within Bugoma Forest Reserve land should not be harvested.

He urged UWA not to allow anyone to harvest the maize, saying this would serve as a deterrent to anyone planning to encroach on the forest.

Godwin Angalia, the Kikuube resident district commissioner, called on UWA to support Hoima Sugar Ltd in protecting its land from encroachers.

He noted that Bugoma Forest had previously been encroached upon by people claiming to be operating on an investor's land. He argued that to eliminate encroachment in the area, no one should be permitted to undertake any activity on the investor's land.

On May 9, the Government, through the Office of the Prime Minister, officially handed over the management of Bugoma Forest Reserve to UWA and elevated the area to national park status.