Parliament suspends UPDF operations on lakes

Maj. Gen. Kutesa speaking during the proceedings. Photo by Timothy Murungi

PARLIAMENT          FISHING              UPDF

Parliament suspends army operations on lakes After an impassioned debate that raged for hours, Parliament has Thursday afternoon suspended the operations of the Fisheries Protection Unit.

The issue came up for discussion after a heated debate yesterday. Following a charged debate by legislators yesterday, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, prematurely adjourned the House and directed that the defence minister, Adolf Mwesige, appears and explains actions that have been taken to end abuses perpetrated by the military during operations against illegal fishing.

Kadaga warned that should the defence minister fail to show up on Thursday morning with an explanation, the House will not handle any other business. During the debate on Wednesday, legislators from across the political divide accused soldiers of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) of being involved in extortion, torture, killings and other violations against fishing communities.

 Okot Ogong giving his submission. Photos by Timothy Murungi

The debate was ignited by a report given by Kioga MP Anthony Okello on an incident last Friday during which the UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit soldier allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl and even threatened to kill her.

Okello narrated how the area Resident District Commissioner caused the parading of the UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit soldiers in the area and the girl identified the culprit.

"It is clear this House is dissatisfied by the violation of the rights of Ugandans by the UPDF unit on water bodies. This House is dissatisfied by a lack of action by the Government. On that note, I suspend this House," Kadaga stated before adjourning the House. The Speaker also directed Mwesige to present a statement to Parliament on Thursday at 10:00 am on the action the Government plans to take to stop the violations.

As a visibly irritated Kadaga was moving out of the chambers, she received thunderous applause from MPs in apparent support of the action she had taken. Before she took the final decision on the matter, she asked the legislators to give suggestions on what they think Parliament needed to do to resolve the matter owing to the fact that the House had in the past raised the same concern many times, but the Government had not taken the necessary action.

During the debate, the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, made attempts to explain to Parliament that the Government is addressing the concerns. "This August House is not helpless on the issues raised. The soldiers have done some good work in helping the fishing industry to recover.

The President has given instructions to ensure soldiers focus on there mandate and that acts of misbehaviour are punished," Rugunda explained. However, Kadaga quickly shot down Rugunda's explanation, saying: "For two years, I have been reporting to the President and even giving him names of soldiers who are culprits, but no action has been taken.

Instead, they were promoted." Kadaga said the impunity with which the head of the UPDF Fisheries Protection is operating makes him behave as if he is the king of Uganda.

Bukooli Central MP and National Resistance Movement caucus vice-chairperson Solomon Silwany said: "My constituency contains a lake. The indiscipline and extortion by the soldiers on the lakes are ashaming. They confiscate vehicles and ask for sh6m to sh12m to return them. As Parliament, we need to take a decision to resolve the matter once and for all."

Buvuma MP Robert Migadde said: "This issue has been raised in Parliament in the past over 10 times. At one time, Parliament was even suspended." "As MPs from fishing communities, we have met the President two times over this issue and no action was taken.

The Parliament agriculture committee investigated the issue and even made recommendations, but no action was taken. The soldiers take your engine and ask for money for you to get it back. What is the role of this Parliament?" Migadde, who represents the island constituency, asked.

Jonam MP Emmanuel Ongiertho suggested that legislators from the fishing communities needed to withdraw from Parliament since the Government had rendered them useless by failing to take action regarding the atrocities of the UPDF unit on the lakes. Arua Municipality MP Kassiano Wadri suggested that Parliament suspends the 10 UPDF MPs to send out a clear message that they are greatly disenchanted.

In February 2017, President Museveni deployed a unit of the UPDF to stamp out illegal fishing activities being carried out by people he described as criminals on various lakes in the country. "We have been having a problem with bad fishing on our lakes including Lake Kyoga. Criminals have depleted the fish in the lakes, but I have deployed a unit of UPDF to stamp out this bad fishing. All individuals who do bad fishing, you will see what is going to happen to them," Museveni announced during the 36th Tarehe Sita anniversary held in Apac at the Boma Ground. Illegal fishing had depleted fish stocks in the lakes over the years.

Statistics at the time showed that out of the 21 fish factories that were operating in the country by 2005, only seven were still operational due to reduced fish stocks. Museveni argued that the UPDF, which he described as professional and disciplined, would do a good job in monitoring water bodies, to get rid of illegal fishing.

Although the operation has led to more fish stocks in the lakes, it has been criticised over alleged abuses. The UPDF is also involved in the Operation Wealth Creation programme, which involves distributing seedlings and animals to farmers across the country.