Women working in the silver fish (mukene) business on Lake Victoria are stuck in a cycle of poverty because of illegal fees charged by the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU). The FPU was originally deployed to stop illegal fishing practices on the lakes.
However, a new joint study by FIAN Uganda, Katosi Women Development Trust, and Makerere University’s Public Interest Law Clinic, shows that women in the fisheries sector are being slowly driven deeper into poverty through arbitrary confiscations, extortion, and uncoordinated enforcement on Lake Victoria.
The research, carried out between April and August 2025, found that at landing sites such as Lutoboka in Kalangala District and Bugula in Katosi, Mukono District, fishers have for years endured the confiscation of boats, engines, nets, lights, and fish catches by law enforcement agencies.
‘A single motorised boat valued at between Shs5m and Shs15m, when confiscated, ushers in huge losses for small-scale fishers who acquired loans to obtain them, leading women in the sector into a cycle of poverty,’ the report reads. The study notes that conflicting regulations in the fisheries sector and uncoordinated enforcement opened the door to extortion and illegal fees charged by various government agencies. At landing sites such as Kavenyanjja, Kinywante, Buggula and Nangoma, fishers are reportedly charged between Shs100,000 and Shs500,000 per month in what is known as ‘network fee’ or ‘Majje’ fee, which is said to disproportionately target women in the silverfish trade.
Ms Zulaina Nakafeero, a fisherwoman from Kavenyanjja Landing Site in Wakiso District, says she left brickmaking to join mukene business. But her livelihood collapsed when the government banned a type of fishing net her group was using. ‘As a pregnant woman, I sold my Shs15 million wooden boat for Shs700,000 and the boat engine I had halfway paid for, was taken away after I failed to clear the balance,’ she explains. After giving birth, she saw other fishers continue catching mukene despite the ban and learnt about the ‘network fee’ system.
‘I was told that someone makes a call to FPU personnel, who then allows you to pay Shs50,000 per day as network fee and fish mukene,’ she says. Nakafeero says this prompted her to take a loan and hired a boat at Shs300,000 per month and resumed fishing.
But the extortion persisted. ‘Loans were too many for me. Each time we went to the lake, someone warned us FPU soldiers were coming. I stopped paying the bribe and relied on other fishers for information. When they later said the Shs50,000 fee had to be paid weekly, I resumed paying so that I could continue working,’ she says. ‘Now, I earn less and have to keep borrowing money to stay in business.’ Another fisherwoman, Teopista Komakech from Mukono District, says many women are forced to pay the bribes to support their families. ‘We have families to feed. We started paying Shs50,000 as bribe to continue working,’ she says
After repeated complaints, Komakech says the daily fees were replaced with monthly charges of between Shs200,000 and Shs300,000 per boat. ‘We had to borrow money to keep our jobs,’ she adds, noting that women who failed to pay were blocked from accessing the lake. ‘Contacts [of FPU soldiers] are on every landing site. The moment you sail off, you are reported and followed. They confiscate your fishing gear until you pay the unreceipted fees,’ she says. Ms Grace Akello from Lutoboka Landing Site in Kalangala District, says her legally purchased fish was repeatedly confiscated en route to Entebbe market. ‘I used to buy a19-inch fish from Kasekulo Landing Site as recommended. The fish was confiscated by the soldiers, only to be sold to another person as I watched,’ she explains.
She adds: ‘This continued happening over the years until I was left with little capital. I now smoke fish and sell to middlemen instead.’ Kyamuswa MP Moses Kabuusu blames the suffering of women on placing fisheries enforcement under the Ministry of Defence instead of the Ministry of Agriculture. ‘The Minister of Agriculture is the one with authority to do enforcement. Technical officers offer professional guidance, but enforcers from UPDF operate differently,’ he says. He adds: ‘In the end, fishers have no one to listen to their issues. Enforcement agencies only want to extort money.’ During a stakeholder meeting in Kalangala District on November 21, Sgt Tumwesigye Nkato, a member of FPU enforcement team in Kalangala District, dismissed the allegations against the unit.
‘As soldiers under FPU, we have not requested any money from fishermen or women. If anyone has evidence, let them bring it out,’ he said. He insisted that all confiscated items are illegal. ‘Whatever we confiscate is illegal according to the law. We don’t confiscate fish, gear which is of the recommended size, that is a lie. Even engines confiscated are often returned to the owners with caution,’ he said. During the World Fisheries Day celebrations on November 21 in Kalangala District, a new dispute-resolution platform called the Justice Forum on Fisheries and Human Rights, or the Community Fisheries Tribunal, was launched to help settle grievances between fishers, regulators and enforcement agencies.
Mr Shafik Kagimu, the operations manager at FIAN Uganda, said the forum brings together the ministry, the FPU, legal experts, fishers and local leaders. ‘We hope the commitments made will bring relief. We shall review this annually with our partners,’ he said. Ms Margaret Nakato, the coordinator of Katosi Women Development Trust, said the platform will allow women to report extortion. ‘The women have solutions to what challenges them. All they need is the opportunity to speak and bring in their traditional knowledge,’ she said.