Fishermen, landlords clash over docking site

A row has erupted between fishermen and landlords over docking at Kigungu Landing site in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District.

This came after the fishermen docked their boats on a piece of land near Kigungu docking site that has been submerged due to rising water levels in Lake Victoria.

“The biggest challenge we have here at Kigungu is rising water levels. The landlords don’t want us to dock at their pieces of land yet we currently have nowhere to dock because the entire place is inundated. So, where do they want us to go?” Mr Fred Sserwadda, a fisherman, wondered on Saturday.

Mr Sserwadda added that the land owners are asking the fishermen to pay Shs20,000 for each boat docking on the new site.

“They [landlords] claim to have land titles, but the area where we dock is within 200 metres, which is considered as a buffer zone,” he said. 

“We want government and local leaders to intervene so that we can continue with our operations without interference because we can’t stop water levels from rising,” he added.

Mr Robert Bakakki, also a fisherman at the same landing site, said whereas they are supposed to operate within 200 metres from the lake shores, some people got land titles that stretch up to the lake shores.

“We disagree with those landlords chasing our boats from the shores. The landowners are the ones who illegally occupy land within the buffer zones,” he said.

Mr John Ndugga, the secretary of production, marketing and social rehabilitation at Entebbe Division B, said they are aware of the standoff between landlords and fishermen.

“We appeal to the land owners to realise that this [rising water levels] is not a long-term situation, let them allow the fishermen’s boats to dock, as the government comes on board to address the matter,” he said.

Mr Richard Ssekyondo, the chairperson of Entebbe Division B, said it is wrong for developers to own land titles on the lake shores and implored the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) to interest itself in the matter.

Section 36 of the National Environment Act provides for the protection of wetlands and empowers districts to ensure that their boundaries are clearly demarcated so that even as water levels recede, the residents do not encroach on them.