Lake Albert tensions affecting district revenues â€" leaders
Sep 19, 2007
FISHERS and local authorities benefiting from Lake Albert, Africa’s seventh largest lake, say the recent events on the lake are hampering their livelihood and revenues. Now, the district leaders from Hoima, Kibaale, Bundibugyo, Buliisa and Nebbi, which share the shores of the lake, are demanding t
By Patrick Jaramogi
FISHERS and local authorities benefiting from Lake Albert, Africa’s seventh largest lake, say the recent events on the lake are hampering their livelihood and revenues. Now, the district leaders from Hoima, Kibaale, Bundibugyo, Buliisa and Nebbi, which share the shores of the lake, are demanding that mechanisms be put in place to harmonise the utilisation of the lake’s resources.
The lake, that is 160kms long and 30km wide, 51 metres deep and borders the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), serves close to 15 million people from Uganda and the DRC.
The district chairpersons, chief administrative officers, resident district commissioners (RDCs), district fisheries officers (DFOs) as well as security officials from the five districts bordering the lake, expressed their concerns during a Nile Basin Initiative organised by Lake Albert stakeholders workshop held in Hoima town recently.
Due to growing insecurity arising after the discovery of oil in the lake, the Government had to ban night fishing on Lake Albert. “We can’t guarantee security of the fishermen anymore and henceforth ban all night fishing on Lake Albert with immediate effect,†Martha Asiimwe, the Hoima RDC, told the district leaders at the workshop at Kolping Hotel.
Experts say tensions between the DRC and Uganda in early August over the ownership of Rukwanzi Island, that led to an armed clash culminating into the death of a British geologist, prompted the ban on night fishing.
But the districts that get huge revenues from the lake as well as the over 20,000 fishermen, are not taking this ban lightly. “These events are devastating our revenues and something must be done urgently to address these tensions,†said John Bambalira, Bundibugyo chairperson.
Nebbi district chairperson, John Wapok’ Lwa, said the border between Uganda and the DRC cuts straight through Lake Albert, making it difficult to demarcate and police the water frontier.
“We (Uganda and DRC) both benefit from the lake, but all that we need is to harmonise how to effectively utilise the lake’s resources,†Wapok’ Lwa says.
Richard Rugadya, the DFO Hoima, says the Ugandan fishermen are so concerned about their security, that he considers it a threat to their earnings. “The deeper waters rich in fish are a no-go area now due to insecurity,†he said.
Rugadya said there are 70 landing sites on the lake, with Hoima having the most, (36), followed by Buliisa (14), Bundibugyo (7), Kibaale (7) and Nebbi (6). He said a recent status of the fisheries report of Lake Albert had indicated that at least sh160m is earned annually from the fish proceeds. “We record 181 tonnes of fish annually from the five districts,†he said.
Rugadya said the most dominant fish caught is the Brycinus nurse (Ragoogi — silvery sardine), followed by Neobola bredoi (mukeneMputa.
Buliisa RDC, Hussein Matanda, said these catches may decline if insecurity prevails. “Since the clashes began, we have beefed up lake patrols in Buliisa district. We just can’t take chances,†he said.
Asiimwe, who heads the Hoima district security committee, said the tensions at the lake had been exacerbated by reports that DRC and Uganda are tussling it out for ownership of Rukwanzi Island.
Bambalira said: “We are concerned that the authorities in DRC have now stopped our fishermen from fishing from Rukwanzi Island. They are taking advantage of the confusion to bar our fishermen from accessing the waters.†Rukwanzi, that Bambalira says is in Ugandan territory, has been seen, over the years, as a strategic location for oil exploration.
Ivan Ebong, the LEAF Project coordinator, said the lack of a fishing policy and harmonisation of fishing laws in the DRC should be sorted out. He said the project was geared towards addressing issues such as indiscriminate fishing, lack of appropriate funding for sustainable livelihood, infestation of the lakes by the water hyacinth, low participation of the communities in the development and management of the resources.
“Both the DRC and Uganda have a great potential of reducing poverty and reversing environmental degradation in these two lakes and that is exactly why the Nile Basin Initiative, through the LEAF project, came in to support this noble cause,†he said.
Ebong added that the African Development Bank had injected $2.3m (sh400.2m) towards the project to benefit close to 15 million people from Uganda and the DRC.
Hoima district chairperson Tinkamanyira Bagonza, said: “At the moment, the situation has gone out of hand. We have no order on the lakes. 80% of the fish catch from Lake Albert is smuggled into the DRC.
“The Congolese lack fishing policies, they use under-sized nets which are illegal on our side, yet if we carry out an operation and arrest them, they are simply charged for illegal entry and deported. We need harmonisation of fishing policies between the two states,†he explained.
The DRC authorities who attended the meeting promised to have a fishing policy soon. “We have heard all that you have said and once we are back, we shall sit down and see how best to work together and utilise the Lake Albert resources effectively,†said the commissioner of fisheries, Wapok Okulu.
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FISHERS and local authorities benefiting from Lake Albert, Africa’s seventh largest lake, say the recent events on the lake are hampering their livelihood and revenues. Now, the district leaders from Hoima, Kibaale, Bundibugyo, Buliisa and Nebbi, which share the shores of the lake, are demanding that mechanisms be put in place to harmonise the utilisation of the lake’s resources.
The lake, that is 160kms long and 30km wide, 51 metres deep and borders the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), serves close to 15 million people from Uganda and the DRC.
The district chairpersons, chief administrative officers, resident district commissioners (RDCs), district fisheries officers (DFOs) as well as security officials from the five districts bordering the lake, expressed their concerns during a Nile Basin Initiative organised by Lake Albert stakeholders workshop held in Hoima town recently.
Due to growing insecurity arising after the discovery of oil in the lake, the Government had to ban night fishing on Lake Albert. “We can’t guarantee security of the fishermen anymore and henceforth ban all night fishing on Lake Albert with immediate effect,†Martha Asiimwe, the Hoima RDC, told the district leaders at the workshop at Kolping Hotel.
Experts say tensions between the DRC and Uganda in early August over the ownership of Rukwanzi Island, that led to an armed clash culminating into the death of a British geologist, prompted the ban on night fishing.
But the districts that get huge revenues from the lake as well as the over 20,000 fishermen, are not taking this ban lightly. “These events are devastating our revenues and something must be done urgently to address these tensions,†said John Bambalira, Bundibugyo chairperson.
Nebbi district chairperson, John Wapok’ Lwa, said the border between Uganda and the DRC cuts straight through Lake Albert, making it difficult to demarcate and police the water frontier.
“We (Uganda and DRC) both benefit from the lake, but all that we need is to harmonise how to effectively utilise the lake’s resources,†Wapok’ Lwa says.
Richard Rugadya, the DFO Hoima, says the Ugandan fishermen are so concerned about their security, that he considers it a threat to their earnings. “The deeper waters rich in fish are a no-go area now due to insecurity,†he said.
Rugadya said there are 70 landing sites on the lake, with Hoima having the most, (36), followed by Buliisa (14), Bundibugyo (7), Kibaale (7) and Nebbi (6). He said a recent status of the fisheries report of Lake Albert had indicated that at least sh160m is earned annually from the fish proceeds. “We record 181 tonnes of fish annually from the five districts,†he said.
Rugadya said the most dominant fish caught is the Brycinus nurse (Ragoogi — silvery sardine), followed by Neobola bredoi (mukeneMputa.
Buliisa RDC, Hussein Matanda, said these catches may decline if insecurity prevails. “Since the clashes began, we have beefed up lake patrols in Buliisa district. We just can’t take chances,†he said.
Asiimwe, who heads the Hoima district security committee, said the tensions at the lake had been exacerbated by reports that DRC and Uganda are tussling it out for ownership of Rukwanzi Island.
Bambalira said: “We are concerned that the authorities in DRC have now stopped our fishermen from fishing from Rukwanzi Island. They are taking advantage of the confusion to bar our fishermen from accessing the waters.†Rukwanzi, that Bambalira says is in Ugandan territory, has been seen, over the years, as a strategic location for oil exploration.
Ivan Ebong, the LEAF Project coordinator, said the lack of a fishing policy and harmonisation of fishing laws in the DRC should be sorted out. He said the project was geared towards addressing issues such as indiscriminate fishing, lack of appropriate funding for sustainable livelihood, infestation of the lakes by the water hyacinth, low participation of the communities in the development and management of the resources.
“Both the DRC and Uganda have a great potential of reducing poverty and reversing environmental degradation in these two lakes and that is exactly why the Nile Basin Initiative, through the LEAF project, came in to support this noble cause,†he said.
Ebong added that the African Development Bank had injected $2.3m (sh400.2m) towards the project to benefit close to 15 million people from Uganda and the DRC.
Hoima district chairperson Tinkamanyira Bagonza, said: “At the moment, the situation has gone out of hand. We have no order on the lakes. 80% of the fish catch from Lake Albert is smuggled into the DRC.
“The Congolese lack fishing policies, they use under-sized nets which are illegal on our side, yet if we carry out an operation and arrest them, they are simply charged for illegal entry and deported. We need harmonisation of fishing policies between the two states,†he explained.
The DRC authorities who attended the meeting promised to have a fishing policy soon. “We have heard all that you have said and once we are back, we shall sit down and see how best to work together and utilise the Lake Albert resources effectively,†said the commissioner of fisheries, Wapok Okulu.
Write to the Editor, P.O.Box 9815, Kampala or email localleader@newvision.co.ug or SMS NVfeatures (space)
write message and send to 198