Plant trees in your homes - Moses Ali

By Andrew Masinde and Ramadhan Abbey       

The third deputy Prime Minister and deputy leader of government business, Gen. Moses Ali has called upon residents of Adjumani to plant trees along the river banks and around their homes or else the district will become a desert.

Ali said the high influx of refugees has led to indiscriminate cutting of trees as people look for firewood and also clearing land for cultivation.

Adjumani has some of the biggest refugee camps hosting mainly refugees from neighbouring South Sudan, who have added pressure on the tree coverage in the district.

Uganda currently hosts about I60, 000 registered South Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers, of which the biggest number of 97,095 refugees, are in Adjumani district.

This high influx according to data from the department of natural resources, has led to deforestation in the district as a result of bush burning, commercial charcoal burning and land opening.


The third deputy Prime Minister, Moses Ali(C) in Adjumani district to celebrate the UN World Refugee Day on June 20, 2015. Photo/Andrew Masinde

Adjumani district lies in the North Western part of Uganda, between latitude 31o 24 and 32o 4 east of Greenwich line and longitudes 2o 53 and 3o 32 North of the Equator.

The district also covers an area of 3,218km2 which is covered by water, with 2.0% occupied by forests.

Ali said over 14million trees had been cut down which is quite appalling, "this is not good for our district, this shows that we don't love our environment and this trend has to change. Each one of us should take an initiative to plant trees in their homes and at the river banks or else we won't have trees in our district," she said.

He added that there should be a drive to plant trees along the entire riverbank, as there is a high rate of soil erosion as a result of lack of trees to act as catchment forces.

Agnes Ebong, the resident district commissioner Adjumani said people had become reluctant towards environment, so the drive will help revive the tree coverage.

"The district is almost becoming a desert if there is no quick intervention, charcoal has become a catalyst for cutting trees and people have to stop it. Each of us should plant a tree were it has been cut and by the end of the year we shall have done something," she explained.

Ali was touring Adjumani district where he launched boreholes, and classroom blocks in refugee camps and also opened the office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in the district constructed by the office of the OPM in partnership with UNHCR.

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20 - 40 S. Sudanese seek refuge at Kiryandongo daily