The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has once again demonstrated its savage and heartless nature, targeting Uganda’s most vulnerable citizens. The recent declaration by NEMA’s senior public relations officer, Mr. William Lubuulwa, that the government will not compensate individuals evicted from wetlands is a vile proclamation, showcasing the government’s utter disdain for human dignity and livelihood.
NEMA’s cold-blooded attitude towards the plight of these evicted persons is beyond reprehensible. Dubbing these individuals as “disturbing the peace” of the wetlands is not only a grotesque oversimplification but also an affront to the intelligence of every Ugandan. This is a blatant attempt to dehumanize the victims and trivialize their immense suffering. This isn’t about environmental conservation; it’s a calculated, sadistic exercise of power over the powerless.
The pandemonium on July 18 at NEMA offices in Kampala, where police were deployed to suppress the protests of hundreds of desperate individuals, vividly illustrates the human cost of NEMA’s barbaric policies. These are not just faceless encroachers; they are men, women, and children who have been thrust into abject destitution by an unfeeling, monstrous bureaucracy.
The handling of the appeals against the eviction orders was a shameless farce. NEMA’s failure to manage the large number of complainants is indicative of their gross incompetence and blatant lack of preparedness. The decision to hear petitions individually, under the pretext of proper evaluation, reeks of a sinister strategy designed to delay and further torment the victims. It’s a classic bureaucratic tactic to disempower and divide the affected individuals, making it easier to dismiss their legitimate grievances.
Isaac Ssali’s point about people fearing individual hearings due to potential bribery highlights the deep-rooted corruption entrenched in the system. By forcing individual hearings, NEMA is effectively silencing the collective voice of the victims and creating avenues for underhanded dealings. This is not about justice or fairness; it’s about maintaining a stranglehold and crushing dissent.
The confidential meeting involving NEMA Executive Director Dr. Akankwasah Barirega, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, and other city officials was yet another grotesque charade. The promise to resurvey premises and confirm the list of victims who didn’t append signatures is just another bureaucratic smokescreen. It’s a delay tactic meant to placate the victims temporarily while offering no real solutions or justice.
Lord Mayor Lukwago’s insistence that residents present land titles and agreements, particularly those settled before the 1995 NEMA law, is a cruel joke. Many of these individuals have lived on this land for decades, long before NEMA’s existence, and now they are being retroactively punished. The demand for documents and precise settlement dates is an exercise in futility for people who have already lost everything. It’s a deliberate obstacle meant to disqualify and disenfranchise as many victims as possible.
The testimonies from the victims, like Mr. Enock Mulinda, Ms. Daisy Nantume, and Mr. Nelson Roberts Kyaligonza, are heart-wrenching. These people have lost their homes, businesses, and even family graves. Their suffering is real and profound, yet NEMA’s response has been cold and dismissive. The destruction of their property, often without due process or warning, is not just illegal; it is inhumane and barbaric.
Mr. Kyaligonza’s plea to the government to hear the people’s cries is a desperate call for basic human decency. The government’s failure to address these grievances is a stark reminder of its utter disconnect from the realities faced by ordinary Ugandans. It is a disgrace that in a country supposedly governed by the rule of law, citizens are left homeless and destitute without recourse or compensation.
NEMA’s actions are not about environmental conservation; they are about power, control, and the systematic oppression of the poor. The authority’s refusal to compensate the victims of its ruthless eviction drive is a declaration of war against the most vulnerable. It is high time that the Ugandan government stops hiding behind the veneer of environmentalism and addresses the gross injustices being perpetrated in the name of conservation. The people of Uganda deserve better than this brutal, heartless, and corrupt regime.
Discussion about this post