The Presidential Representative (RDC) in Lwengo District, Immy Kateera, has sternly warned residents and a wealthy landlord who is evicting them from a wetland. The RDC visited the area alongside officials from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and district land officials to investigate the claims of residents who stated that the wetland they depend on for water and livestock has been taken over.
The conflict is in Kaamazzi A village, Katovu Town Council, Lwengo District. The residents had petitioned the RDC's office, accusing a wealthy landlord, Yisa Musiitwa, of blocking their access to a wetland that serves five villages. They reported that the water has now receded and the area has dried up.
RDC Kateera had summoned the landlord to a meeting with the residents. However, upon her arrival, the residents mobbed the landlord's children, attempting to assault them and pelt them with stones. Police led by Katovu DPC Ketty Oyella had to intervene to calm the situation.
Later, the RDC proceeded to inspect the wetland herself. She found that the landlord had dug it up to plant gardens and create fishponds. After listening to both sides for two hours, the residents, led by their Local Council One (LC1) Chairman for Kaamazzi B, Magembe Francis (wearing a sweater on his shoulders), explained that the landlord first blocked their access road to the wetland and then planted eucalyptus trees, vegetables, and fishponds, which they believe has caused the wetland to dry up and their water source to vanish. They pleaded with the RDC to restore their wetland.
On his part, the landlord, Yisa Musiitwa (in a white shirt), denied evicting people from the wetland. He accused them of grazing their goats on his land and wanting to destroy his crops. His son, Yisa Katenda, told the RDC that the contested land belongs to their family and the wetland is also theirs. They challenged the residents to prove ownership. They also informed Captain Mulindwa Birimaaso, the former Member of Parliament for Bukoto West, who was present, that he was a witness to the original purchase of this land.
They argued that the residents have alternative sources of water and are merely interested in encroaching on the wetland, which they have even failed to conserve.
RDC Kateera criticized NEMA for not doing enough to enforce the law on wetlands and to educate people who own land in swampy areas about the regulations to follow to avoid such conflicts.
She then ordered Godfrey Mutemba and his team from NEMA to immediately start the process of establishing a buffer zone and to clearly demarcate it, even if it means cutting down people's crops that were planted in the protected area.
The RDC finally granted the residents access to the wetland so they can have water. She urg
