Environment watchdog recruits over 50 rangers

 ________________ 

In the coming four months, destroying the environment is going to be very risky. This follows the recruitment of 55 new rangers by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), who were sent for training at Kabalye Police Training School in Masindi district over the weekend.

NEMA executive director Barirega Akankwasah said the rangers are going to curb environmental crime, which has been escalating in recent years.

He added that there is no sector of the economy that does not depend on the environment, pointing out that the environment should be used and protected to achieve sustainability. This is why it is important to enhance the enforcement of environmental laws, according to Akankwasah.

Over the weekend, the rangers were sent to Kabalye, where four months of training will prepare them for the frontline of environmental protection. The training will be conducted by the Uganda Police Force (UPF).

Akankwasah said the journey began in 2019, when Parliament passed the National Environment Act, giving birth to the idea of an environmental protection force. Now, that vision gathers form as the top watchdog on the environment has been given teeth to bite with. This is going to enforce environmental laws.

He explained that the National Environment Management Authority has been working in close partnership with the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People's Defence Forces. That collaboration, he said, will continue as they build a 2,500-strong ranger force to stand guard across the country.

He said the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which safeguards about 10% of the country, already has 2,500 rangers on duty. In contrast, NEMA has a bigger mandate of overseeing the nation’s broader environmental fabric—still requires more hands to match its responsibility.

He noted that National Environment Management Authority rangers will stretch their watch across forests, wetlands, lakeshores, riverbanks, and mountaintops—those delicate spaces where nature seems to breathe in hushed tones. Their mandate, he added, will go beyond ecosystems alone, reaching into agricultural landscapes as well, so that cultivation and conservation may move in a shared rhythm of balance and sustainability.

“We asked the President to give us a force to protect the environment, and he blessed it,” Akakwasah said, adding that the President sanctioned that they should have a 2,000-strong force under EPF. “NEMA is to expand to cover the whole country, and all sectors of the economy are supposed to be compliant.”

He also pointed out that following the restructuring of the NEMA, the Environment Protection Force is well integrated in the top government watchdog on the environment.

“You are going as a pioneer cohort. We expect discipline, integrity, and hard work,” he said, adding that how they perform will be reflected in terms of how the public responds to them.

He said the rangers form a paramilitary unit but stressed that this is not about militarising the environment—rather, it is about strengthening the enforcement of environmental law.

“This is a paramilitary group, expected to bear arms to protect both citizens and the environment. It is vital to safeguard the environment for the benefit of present and future generations,” Barirega Akankwasah said.

He noted that the National Environment Management Authority was established in 1994 following an Act of Parliament and began operations in 1996. Now marking 30 years of existence, the agency has played a central role in shaping environmental regulations, drawing on its growing internal expertise.

He invoked a biblical principle that responsibility increases with trust, urging the ranger team to uphold discipline, integrity, and a steadfast commitment to protecting nature.

"We do not expect you to be tax collectors; we expect stewards of the environment,” he said, adding that successful completion of training is mandatory, and failure to meet the required standards will lead to termination of contracts.

He added, “You are going to be a civil force; you will work with the citizens. What you are going to study is military science, environment and natural resources, human resources, human rights, and how to handle firearms."

Barirega Akankwasah noted that assessments will be undertaken, and the best rangers will work with the investigative unit of the country’s chief environmental authority.

From the boardroom of the National Environment Management Authority, Akankwash flagged off the rangers to Kabalye Police Training School—a warm departure from planning into purpose.

He was accompanied by Victor Nahabwe, Senior Manager for Environment Enforcement and Field Operations; David William Elwel, the Senior Manager-Human Resources in charge of Finance and Administration; and the head of the Environment Protection Force, Joshua Karamagi.