Uganda: Members of Parliament want officials issuing titles in wetlands arrested – African Business

Legislators asked the police to investigate the possibility of arresting officers from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, who issue land titles in wetlands.

The Committee on Climate Change is composed of MPs. They believe this will speed up the process of restoring wetlands that have been illegally occupied.

“I think we should not go for only those who built in wetlands – we have to go for those who have issued titles in wetlands. Whoever issues documentation to facilitate land acquisition in wetlands must be fired,” said Hon. Seth Wambede (NRM, Northern Division), Mbale City

This was during a press briefing held on Friday, 09 September 2022 in the Members’ Lounge at Parliament.

Members observed that the process of evicting illegal occupants has been compromised that the ‘big fish’ continue to occupy wetlands, thus the need to focus on the source of land titles.

“We see eviction of vulnerable people. Why is it selective implementation of the law?” asked Hon. Christine Kaaya, NUP, Kiboga District woman MEP

Kaaya wondered, “If government is monitoring the authorised projects within wetlands like Lwera in Lukaaya Town Council Kalungu District, central Uganda to ensure compliance to environment law.”

“Earlier there was a move to cancel all titles in wetlands. How far have you gone in achieving this? How far are we going with their delineation? Where is Environmental Police to monitor adherence to what we set out to do with these wetlands?” she asked.

Hon. Lawrence Songa said: “First of all, it is bad to issue title in the wetland. I have seen people who say that they have land and when you go to see the land, it is in water – but they say, ‘My land is under there, it is the water which came over it’ ”.

Songa said that the massive floods in Kasese in western Uganda and the Elgon region’s landslides in eastern Uganda should serve as a reminder of the need to reclaim forests and wetlands.  

He was concerned by the government’s excessive spending on disaster management, and suggested that it could focus more on disaster prevention.

“Most of the time what we are spending on at the Office of the Prime Minister is for addressing challenges after disasters. If you calculate the money we spend on relief items after disasters, it is higher than the money we will have used to prevent it,” he said.

Legislators also asked government to create a comprehensive campaign to encourage households to embrace climate change best practices, such as tree planting, protection forests and wetlands against encroachers.

“We want climate change actions such as the use and disposal of [polythene bags]Households should own kaveera. We need to own this fight individually like how we fought COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS,” said Hon. Anthony Esenu (NRM, Kapelebyong County).

Distributed by APO Group, on behalf of Parliament of Uganda