Before halting their operations in Kampala, in a crackdown to restore degraded wetlands, the authorities responsible for environmental management and protection razed areas of Busabala in Makindye-Ssabagabo Municipality, Wakiso District.
The two-day operation conducted on June 2nd and June 4th by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Ministry of Water and Environment, with assistance from police and the military, left over 100 families displaced.
Just like single mothers dominated the Kawaala II eviction saga, where a similar operation was carried out, in Busabala, men evacuated their families and remained behind to pursue justice.
Mr Fred Namuyimbwa, who was running a piggery farm in Buggu village, was one of the victims. He lost all his houses in this NEMA operation. Over the weekend, he was sharing a shelter with pigs in a temporary pigsty structure.
The enforcement team had mercy on him, and his pigsty was spared to allow him to remove his animals. He has over 50 pigs and piglets combined.
‘I had a very big family, and today they are all scattered. My wife went back to their home with some of our young children,’ he said.
He, however, said he cannot cry for the lost property. Together with other victims, they are pushing for compensation or looking for well-wishers to help them relocate.
‘The destroyed property is like losing a child; we buried them and are now looking forward to how we get compensated,’ Mr Namuyimbwa said.
The farmer has stood the test of time, including coldness due to the swampy nature of the area. Being an open structure, even rains inconvenience his stay here.
He is not sure when he plans to relocate his farm, appealing for financial assistance from any good Samaritan to get him land where he can establish a new farm.
‘I have endured the malodorous stench that comes from the waste materials, but not sure if I will not get diseases. I cannot abandon my farm because thieves will steal my pigs,’ he added.
Mr Godfrey Lumu, a father of 10 children, was also left displaced. He is planning to start from scratch after losing his residential house in the operation. He said he cannot be accepted with his family to rent anywhere.
‘Even if you are the landlord, can you accept me when I tell you that I have 10 children? Obviously no,’ he said.
Similarly, Mr Richard Katende lost his storied structure and eight rental houses. To settle in this place, he bought three plots of land and acquired an agreement signed by the area chairperson.
He used the remaining poles from his house to erect a makeshift tent where he sleeps with his wife at night, whereas the rest of the family members remain displaced.
‘I had a big number of people I was taking care of, including my children and relatives. I cannot trace them because they were all displaced,’ he said.
He appealed to the Uganda Law Society to intervene in their issue, and they seek justice in courts of law, to at least get compensated with some small funding that can buy them land elsewhere.
‘By the time I bought a plot of land in this area, it was totally dry land. However, when investors started pouring soil in the lake, Lake Victoria water levels increased,’ he said.
Mr Katende said if the government is to restore wetlands, they must first touch the big fish, with big investments near the lake. Other than that, the wetlands will keep spreading.
He said they were given two weeks to leave the evicted area.
Some women who are still stranded said they no longer have privacy with this ‘surprise’ crackdown as they now share shelter with men at night.
‘When it gets dark at night, we all gather under one tent and sleep. The situation is very bad, especially for us who had all our investments in the same area,’ Ms Agnes Kadogi said.
She said their children have dropped out of school; they don’t have food, and everything in their daily life has turned miserable ever since that fateful day.
Ms Margaret Nabukeera said their children are falling sick every day due to the cold weather and mosquitoes biting them. They cannot go anywhere to look for food because once you go, your property remains at risk of being stolen.
During his inaugural speech as minister for water and environment, Rtd. Maj Gen. Kahinda Otafiire commended restoration works by NEMA to stop all developments in the wetlands by people without a valid license.
He said fragile ecosystems like wetlands are meant to filter water before it’s discharged to major water bodies and also act as habitats for only fish, frogs, and crocodiles, among others.