Residents of Buggu Village in Wakiso District accused Uganda’s environmental regulator on Tuesday of carrying out a surprise eviction during an ongoing wetland restoration campaign, saying authorities reneged on an earlier agreement to first demarcate affected areas before enforcement.
The operation, conducted by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) with support from police and the military, targeted structures in Buggu Village, Busabala Parish, triggering scenes of panic as residents rushed to salvage household property, livestock and construction materials.
Residents said they had attended a meeting on May 29 at Busabala Playground with officials from NEMA, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation, the Makindye-Ssabagabo Resident District Commissioner’s office and local leaders, where they were informed that NEMA would return on June 19 to demarcate affected areas before any eviction.
Instead, enforcement teams arrived on June 2 with excavators, they said.
“We feel betrayed,” said Busabala Muslim Imam Muhamood Ssebagala.
“NEMA had agreed to return on June 19 for demarcations, but to our surprise they came with excavators on June 2. Many people were not prepared and have suffered huge losses.”
Ssebagala said some affected families had lived in the area for more than two decades and now faced uncertainty over where to relocate.
The operation left some residents scrambling to remove mattresses, furniture, roofing sheets and other belongings from structures marked for demolition.
“We are going to sleep outside,” said Ivan Ssentongo, one of the affected residents.
“I have spent more than seven years here. We were expecting demarcations first, not demolitions.”
The dispute has drawn political attention, with Makindye-Ssabagabo Member of Parliament David Sserukenya calling on NEMA to suspend the exercise and honour commitments made during the May 29 meeting.
Sserukenya argued that authorities should focus on preventing illegal developments in wetlands before construction begins rather than demolishing homes after residents have invested heavily in them.
“They told people they would return on June 19 for demarcation, but they came back on June 2 for demolition,” he said.
“People had gone to work and returned to find their property destroyed.”
The legislator also called for investigations into allegations that some developers had reclaimed parts of Lake Victoria by dumping soil into the water body, contributing to flooding in nearby communities.
He further criticised aspects of the Entebbe Expressway drainage system, saying inadequate culverts had worsened flooding in some residential areas.
NEMA rejected accusations that it had violated any agreement.
William Lubulwa, the agency’s public relations officer, said he was unaware of the May 29 meeting cited by residents and maintained that occupants of the affected wetlands had been repeatedly warned to leave.
“People in these wetlands have been notified since 2023,” Lubulwa said.
“I don’t want to speak on behalf of the locals. If NEMA was part of that meeting, then this must have been the agreed action.”
Lubulwa said the wetland restoration campaign would continue in other parts of the country, including Wakiso District, Mbale City and areas along River Rwizi in Mbarara City.
He urged the public to avoid settling or constructing structures in protected wetlands, warning that such activities undermine fragile ecosystems and contribute to environmental degradation.
The latest operation forms part of a broader government campaign to restore degraded wetlands and reduce flooding in urban and peri-urban areas.
Last week, NEMA resumed enforcement activities in Lubigi Wetland, leaving hundreds homeless as authorities demolished structures deemed illegal.
On Monday, the agency also halted construction activities in Lumpewo Wetland in Ndejje, Makindye-Ssabagabo Municipality, issuing a 21-day ultimatum for illegal structures to be removed.