At least 30 Lubigi returnees arrested as NEMA clears wetland again
Lubigi evictee Teddy Nabasenya (R) speaks to a pregnant woman whose makeshift tent was destroyed during a renewed crackdown by NEMA against encroachers on the wetland on October 18, 2024. PHOTO/NOELINE NABUKENYA
What you need to know:
- Several bystanders accused NEMA and enforcers of double standards saying “their evictions only target poor people.”
As the heavens opened for an afternoon downpour in Nansana Municipality on Friday, chaotic scenes erupted yet again as several Lubigi Wetland returnees clashed with armed security personnel operating through the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Children and pregnant women wailed as at least 30 people who were arrested by police and Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers before they were forced onto waiting security vehicles.
“We have nowhere to go. This is our home. We will keep coming back. Where do you want us to go,” Teddy Nabasenya shouted as she was pushed on a patrol.
Nabasenya was among dozens evicted during a crackdown to rid the wetland of encroachers between May and June 2024.
During the operation, properties belonging to apparent encroachers was destroyed in Ganda-Nasere, Nansana West II B, Nabweru South Cell I and Nabweru South Cell II.
At the beginning of October, returnees set up camp-like settlements, and makeshift structures insisting to resettle in the area.
Noor Nakaweesa, one of the returnees who has been living in a makeshift tent with her children including a two-year-old baby, claimed she legally bought the land.
“We have all the documentation. No matter what they do to us, we will not go. We have nowhere to go,” she emphasized.
Pinky Mulungi, a mother of a-two-week-old baby, told Monitor, that she acquired money as an emigrant worker in the Middle East and bought a plot of land in Lubigi where she has stayed for the past one year.
“They demolished my house when I was pregnant and I endured all the colds through all the four months until I recently produced my baby,” she said.
“What offence did we commit? Why are we treated as non-citizens in our country,” Mulungi lamented amongst several wailing women as enforcers carried on with eviction on Friday.
Musa Mwanje, a returnee in Lubigi wetland is seen surrounded by security officers before being arrested over encroaching on the wetland on October 18, 2024. PHOTO/NOELINE NABUKENYA
Several bystanders accused NEMA and enforcers of double standards saying “the evictions only target poor people.”
“In one of the areas where they evicted people, Indians have since started backfilling the place and NEMA has not shown up to that area. Such double standards should stop,” said an evictee.
NEMA spokesperson Naomi Namara Karekaho said the detained individuals face prosecution once their files are ready for court proceedings.
