Mbarara City North legislator Robert Mwesigwa Rukaara has said that unprotected environment is one of the country’s top security threats.

Rukaari made the remarks on Thursday while closing a training workshop for resident district/city commissioners on environment and social safeguards at Lakeview Hotel in Mbarara City.

"Do you know why our hospitals are under a lot of pressure? That pressure comes from unprotected environment. As long as you're not collecting your garbage, not clean or our communities are not enlightened about garbage collection; this garbage will bring diseases, diseases will make our people fall sick and then our hospitals will get overwhelmed by the sick people,” Rukaari said.
 
According to Rukaari who is also the chairman of the National Resistance Movement Entrepreneurs League, this will in turn compel the Government through ministry of finance to allocate “a lot of money to hospitals where we should have protected and saved that money for development in other things and it becomes a cycle of backwardness which hinders our prosperity".

Rukaari commended the National Environment Management Authority for organizing the training of RDCs and RCCs who are heads of security in districts and cities.

"This is an important workshop for RDCs and RCCs who are heads of security in the districts and cities to be skilled in terms of environmental protection because the number one security threat in the whole world is environment. If our environment is not protected then there is a big threat,” the legislator said.

"That is why we must have collective effort to protect our environment but also make sure the 46 million Ugandans are informed about the processes of how our environment should be protected." 

He tasked the trainees with sensitizing the public on the dangers of destroying the environment.

NEMA’s Executive Director Dr Barirega Akankwasa asked the RDCs and RCCs to deploy their mandate in order to fight environmental degradation. 

Speaking at the same event, Mbarara RCC Rtd. Lt. Col. James Mwesigye appealed to his colleagues to treat the management of environmental issues with urgency.

"We should go out there and do what we are supposed to do. I want to challenge all of us to deliver services to the people of Uganda and government as expected," Mwesigye said.

At least 30 participants from Greater Ankole region attended the event.