Locals, ministry clash over Isingiro wetland

Residents of Rugaga Sub County and town council in Isingiro District are up in arms with the Ministry of Water and Environment officials over the demarcation of Kasuusa wetland.

The wetland which covers three sub-counties of Rugaga, Rushasha and Rugaga town council in Bukanga County is a source of livelihood to about 300 households, but the ministry claims it has been encroached upon.

Mr Abdu Kamoga, the Isingiro District Environment Officer said: “This wetland has been providing ecological services to the people. However, on the other hand, it is being degraded by some people who are cultivating up to the extreme of the water source.”

Mr Kamoga said if the wetland is not demarcated to create clear boundaries, the locals will continue to degrade it which will cause water scarcity in the area in the near future.

“People are overharvesting papyrus and when it remains bare, it may dry up,” he added.

However, the locals accuse officials of conniving with rich people to take away their land.

“I was born here in this land that you are saying is in the wetland. I am in the land of my great-grandfather but we get worried when we see the government trying to drive us out of our land. We do not oppose the government but if they want our land, they must buy it not just kick us out,” Mr Felix Magabi, a resident of Rukuba cell in Rugaga town council said.

Mr Vincent Kafeero a resident of Kasuusa cell in Rugaga town council said before demarcating the wetland, the ministry officials should first sensitize the communities on how the exercise will be carried out and they will be affected.

The Isingiro District Vice Chairperson, Ms Annet Mukama, said there has been a presidential directive on the protection of wetlands and Isingiro is not exceptional.

“What I want to tell our people is that we cannot change the law. If it is about protecting the environment, we cannot change it. We cannot let the wetland be degraded or encroached because of politics,” she said.

She noted that about 166 people were directly affected by the boundary opening and the government is trying to see how they can be supported.

The acting commissioner in charge of wetlands at the Ministry of Water and Environment, Ms Lucy Iyango, said they are opening up the boundaries following the right procedures.

“There is a machine we use to show specific coordinates where the wetland passes. We are not targeting anyone’s land,” she said.

She added: “The demarcation exercise involves the very people who are the beneficiaries so that we are able to restore those areas that have been degraded. So I urge the residents to be cooperative.”

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