Wetland restoration hits snag

ENVIRONMENT|WETLANDS|RIVERS

KABALE - The ongoing restoration of rivers and wetlands in the Kigezi sub-region could be halted, until further consultations and agreements between the authorities and residents are reached. 

This was revealed by the state minister for finance in charge of planning and Ndrowa West MP, David Bahati. 

Bahati said a lot has to be realised before the Government evicts residents of Kigezi from wetlands and river buffer zones.

"Our people, unlike other areas of Uganda, have been occupying these wetlands which were given to them by the Government in the 1950s. 

Getting them out should be carefully done and, thus, a consensus has to be reached on how this is going to be done," he said. 

Bahati, who is also the chairperson of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Kabale district, made the remarks while addressing party delegates in a meeting at Arcadia Hotel in Kabale on Saturday. 

The environment ministry in October started demarcating wetlands and rivers in the Kigezi sub-region in an attempt to restore them. 

This is in regard to a project under which the ministry, through the directorate of water resources management, received funding from the Adaptation Fund and Sahara and Sahel Observatory, to implement the Enhancing Resilience of Communities to Climate Change through Catchment-Based Integrated Management of Water and Related Resources in Uganda (EURECCCA project). 

This is to be done in the catchments of Awoja, Aswa and Maziba. 

Louis Mugisha, a seniorwater analyst in the ministry's directorate of water resources, said the project that started in 2017, is now in its final stages. 

"We have now started the process that will see those who were occupying the wetlands quit and we restore them," he said. 

At least 1,370 square kilometres of depleted wetlands in the districts of Rubanda, Kabale, Rukiga and Ntungamo will be handled in the next one year. 

Mugisha said the environment ministry has also established a revolving fund that will be given to water protection community groups that will be evicted from the wetlands.

"We want communities that have been getting a livelihood from the wetlands to start other activities that could benefit them and, through their groups, the ministry will support them with a fund," he added. 

Some of the targeted wetlands include Ekona in Maziba sub-county, Nyakahita in Kabale municipality, Rufuha, and Kabasheshe in Ntungamo. 

The same project, according to Mugisha, will see many rivers in south-western Uganda restored. 

"We are now showing people the extent of these rivers so that whatever is done within their buffer zones is in accordance with the law. If the buffer zones were protected, we would not be having dirty water. What our people are consuming now is unfiltered water, which is not safe," he said. 

Jeconius Musingwire, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) regional manager for south-western, said they will be using standard scientific methods to determine the boundaries of the various wetlands. 

"We measure the soil type, vegetation, water tables and determine where the wetlands start from. Our aim is to make sure that the natural set up of our wetlands is realised," Musingwire said.

However, Bahati said according to the public reactions, the Government did not do enough paperwork to make sure that the exercise does not affect the residents adversely. 

He said some leaders in the district have sat with the various stakeholders, including the Prime Minister, so that the exercise is halted. 

Recently, the Ndorwa East MP, Wilfred Niwagaba, asked residents of Maziba occupying the wetlands not to leave, until the Government compensates them. 

Rogers Akatwijuka, the Kabale district natural resources officer, said politicians in the region are opposing an exercise that was aimed at improving the state of the area's climate. 

Akatwijuka said due to the poor land use around Maziba River, the Maziba hydropower dam has been silted and is no longer operational. 

He also noted that due to the ever-changing conditions, there has been a visible reduction of crested cranes in the area. "Crested Cranes cannot survive when wetlands, which are their breeding grounds, are no more," he added.

What next for residents?

Some of the locals are worried about their next course of action, following the move to evict them. 

Mauda Kehikyirwa, an 89-year-old peasant who lives alone on the edge of Nyakahita weland, said her life will never be the same if she is kicked out of the wetland that she says has sustained her for long. 

On most days, she eats like an affluent Ugandan - beef, Irish potatoes and beans - bought using money she earns from selling irish potatoes harvested from the wetland. 

Kehikyirwa is one of the over 276 people that depend on the wetland in Kabale municipality, Kabale district. 

The limited land in the hilly Kabale district forced farmers to opt for wetlands to grow their crops. 

"I harvest at least 20 bags of Irish potatoes every season, which has boosted my level of income. The sole source of finance that has seen me raise my family has been growing irish potatoes in the wetlands. I like the idea of protecting natural resources, but the Government should consider resettling us somewhere else," she said. 

Each bag of irish potatoes costs between sh150,000 and sh200,000. Milton Ahabomugisha, 53, has been able to take care of his family of nine persons, courtesy of the wetland. 

Ahabomugisha has planted beans and maize in his part of the wetland. He said he is willing to vacate the wetland. 

"We agree that encroaching on wetlands is bad, but the time we have spent here has been too long for us to assume that what we were doing was wrong," he said.