Police on July 17 briefly arrested Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda before driving him to his home in Kirinya as the MP and his Nakawa East colleague Ronald Balimwezo met residents to discuss the issue of evictions by the National Environmental Authority (Nema) and the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra).
Police fired teargas to disperse residents. At least six people were arrested from Kasokoso, according to the MP. Police whisked Ssemujju off the scene, driving him to his home in Kirinya where he was joined by lawyer and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.
“The fact that they are not charging me for anything tells you that I was not committing any crime,” Ssemujju said. “If I am an MP and I cannot speak for the people I represent, then why I’m I an MP?”
The evictions are meant to pave way for the Kampala-Jinja Expressway and Kampala Southern Bypass Project. Families and businesses in Ssemujju’s Kira Municipality and Balimwezo’s Nakawa East will be affected by the project.
Ssemujju says while Unra had offered to compensate the project affect persons (PAPs), compensation had delayed, relegating people to a life of misery.
“People were told in 2010 not to develop their areas because they were going to be compensated. 14 years later they have not been compensated. Where there were schools, they are no longer there. People are living a very miserable life,” said Ssemujju, also shadow finance minister, who was flanked by Balimwezo.
The MP was concerned that there was “a tendency to exploit vulnerability in Uganda,” with the government reportedly taking part in such shameful exploitation and resorting to carrying out inhumane evictions in which the law is disregarded.
“I have been in Ethiopia. There if they want to evict people, they construct houses for them and move them humanly. Here they just issue orders,” said Ssemujju. “Even wild animals are conserved. If you can conserve wild animals and not human beings, then there is a problem.”
Lukwago noted that while he appreciated efforts to protect and restore wetlands, there was need “to follow the due process.”
“We are working within the confines of the NEMA laws. When a restoration order is issued to the affected persons, they have a right to a fair hearing and can petition for the review of the restoration order,” he said.
“The key crux of this matter was to get the people in Kasokoso to stand up for their rights and have the due process followed to present the case before Nema. It is up to Nema to notify the police that we are leaders who have a right to interface with people who are faced with eviction threats and fight for their rights.”
Nema executive director Dr Barirega Akankwasah has made it clear that “the government cannot therefore compensate encroachers, as this would not only invite more encroachments but also be a tacit approval of illegality.”
President Museveni backed Nema’s Akankwasah, ordering “people who stay and operate in wetlands to vacate them peacefully,” and wondering, “why do you need NEMA to be the one to stop you as if you are an idiot.”
The recent evictions in Lubigi wetland raised the debate on BIG vs SMALL FISH as Uganda’s Poor were evicted from wetlands but grand destruction by the rich & powerful continues. (See Details Here and There).
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