Masaka leaders ask govt to reopen landing sites

Ms Jessica Nabunya, 35, was a fishmonger at Mumpu Landing Site in Masaka District before fisheries authorities shut it down in 2017.

Since then, the single mother of three says she has failed to find another income-generating business to sustain her family.
“I took chances with the same business at Bukakkata Landing Site but it was not successful. I was asked to pay Shs200,000 to secure a stall, which money I did not have,” Ms Nabunya says.

“Since I had spent beyond my limit, I currently stay with a friend in Bukakkata and survive on handouts from friends,” she adds. 
Ms Nabunya is one of more than 4,000 people whose livelihoods were crippled when authorities closed eight out of the 12 landing sites in Masaka District six years ago. 

The closed landing sites include Kafuga, Kisamba, Kyondo, Kisonzi and Mutemante in Buwunga Sub-county and Kyasa, Mumpu and Kakyukyu landing sites in Kyanamukaaka Sub-county.

According to the government, the landing sites were operating illegally.
There has been a lot of public outcry from fishermen and other people who had businesses on the landing sites.
Local leaders have also raised concern over the delayed reopening of the landing sites.

Mr Peter Ssenkungu, the Masaka District finance committee chairperson, says the district is losing a lot of money in revenue because the fisheries sub-sector, which was one of the major contributors, is not fully operational. 

“The fisheries sub-sector employs quite a number of people in the district but most of them can no longer support their families. The government should urgently reopen the landing sites so that these people can get back on the lake and fend for their families,” he says.

Mr Ssenkungu adds that in the 2021/2022 financial year, Masaka District had projected to raise more than Shs389 million in local revenue, but this has not been realised because of the continued closure of their landing sites.

“We were told by the government to assess the conditions at the landing sites which we did. We believe they should be reopened for people to operate,” he says. 

In 2020, the government had hinted on a plan to reopen some of the landing sites. The set conditions that the landing sites were required to adhere to when reopened. These include the registration of fishermen and manufacturing of the recommended fishing boats.

The fishermen were also required to procure the recommended fishing gear.
Last year, the then Minister for Agriculture, Mr Vincent Ssempijja, asked the district leaders to update the government on the status of the closed sites, but the landing sites have remained closed.

Ms Ritah Nuwamanya, a female councillor representing Bukakkata Sub-county at the district, says: “The continued closure of landing sites like Nakitokolo, Mutemante, Mumpu, and others in my area means keeping the locals that were residing in these areas internally displaced.”  

Mr Gerald Lubezi, another councillor representing Bukakkata Sub-county at the district, says they have on several occasions engaged the district fisheries’ office to have the landing sites reopened, but they have not been helped.

“We ask the government to expedite the process of reopening the landing sites where some of those people were deriving their livelihoods from,” he says.  
Mr Aloysius Jjuko, the Bukakkata Sub-county chairperson, says the closure of the landing sites left many youth jobless and many have turned to crime to earn a living.

“Government should give hope to these people by reopening the sites,” he says. 

Mr Jjuko says the closure of landing sites greatly contributed to dismal performance of the ruling National Resistance Movement during last year’s General Election in many areas around Lake Victoria.

Govt reacts
In an interview with the Monitor at the weekend, Ms Hellen Adoa, the State minister for Fisheries, said she wasn’t aware that some landing sites were still closed. 
“I need to first crosscheck with the technical people at the ministry before commenting on that,” she said.  

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