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Entebbe residents abandon houses ahead of planned eviction
Some of the abandoned houses in Namiiro wetland affected by rising water levels. Photo by Eve Muganga
What you need to know:
Namiiro is one of the few remaining wetlands in Entebbe. Other wetlands have been heavily degraded. They include: Mabamba, Nambigirwa, Lutembe and Nagadya among others.
Namiiro Swamp stretches from Kiggungu, Nakiwogo landing site, through Lugonjo up to the UN regional Service Centre in Entebbe.
Residents of Entebbe Municipality in Wakiso District who encroached on Namiiro wetlands at Lugonjo and Nakiwogo villages have abandoned their houses ahead of government's plan to evict them.
The wetland measures about 1,000 hectares, but almost a quarter of it has been encroached on by at least 5,000 people. Various activities like farming, bricking laying and house construction have been taking place in the area for the last fourteen years.
Last month, President Museveni ordered encroachers to vacate lake shores, river banks and wetlands, saying they are responsible for the rising water levels in lakes like Victoria and Kyoga which have caused flooding in many parts of the country.
However, for the case of Namiiro wetland, encroachers have not waited for government to evict them.
“We decided to abandon our houses not because we wanted, but this time around the President seems to be determined to chase us away due to ever rising water levels in the lake,” Mr Bruno Kibuuka, one of the residents said in an interview.
One of the houses abandoned in Namiiro wetland due to rising water levels. Photo by Eve Muganga
A visit to the area last week indicated that some residents who owned houses in the area have relocated to nearby villages in Lugonjo to start renting rooms.
“The situation we are in is really terrible as if we aren’t Ugandans, we have no food and money to pay for rent, government should assist us,” he said.
According to Ms Joan Nabulime, another affected resident said UMEME, the national power distributor, has since disconnected power from the area.
“For Umeme to disconnect power, they are right because anytime poles could fall on their houses and eventually people would die. So, what Umeme did was right,” Mr Richard Ssekyondo, the deputy mayor Entebbe Municipality, said.
Mr Nicholas Magara, the coordinator of wetlands in central region at the Ministry of Water and Environment said a team of environment experts from the ministry will this week inspect Namiiro wetland to assess the situation before pulling down the illegal structures. He said this time no one will stand in their way as they restore the depleted wetland.
“Those people have been given ample time to relocate to safer places, but they have remained adamant, our team is going to do an inspection of all those affected wetlands and forge a way forward,” he said.
Namiiro is one of the few remaining wetlands in Entebbe. Other wetlands have been heavily degraded. They include: Mabamba, Nambigirwa, Lutembe and Nagadya among others.
Namiiro Swamp stretches from Kiggungu, Nakiwogo landing site, through Lugonjo up to the UN regional Service Centre in Entebbe.
