Over 700 residents who settled at Mayanzi village, Kigungu sub-ward, Entebbe municipality in Wakiso district after being evicted from islands of Makusa and Lwamunnyo in May this year, are facing further displacement after the Uganda People’s Defense Force(UPDF) Fisheries Protection Unit(FPU) gave them (residents) a forty-days ultimatum to vacate their new settlement.

The UPDF fisheries protection unit led by Lt. Col. James Nuwagaba stormed the newly established settlement and ordered residents to vacate the area. According to Nuwagaba, the newly settled residents had started engaging in illegal fishing and that, the newly established landing site, is not gazetted and therefore illegal.”

“I divided those people among three groups to be integrated to the already gazetted landing sites of Kakyanga, Lwazi and Kavenyanja, and if they insist on staying at Mayanzi, they risk losing everything,” warned the army officer.

However, Entebbe municipality officials led by mayor Vincent Kayanja de Paul, condemned a move by the FPU of forcefully trying to vacate the residents, saying the army officers had no mandate to determine which area becomes a landing site. “As the municipal authorities, we had already gazetted this area as part of Kigungu landing site and all plans to provide for necessities and services to the people, were underway,” explained mayor Kayanja vowing not to allow the army to further displace the newly settled residents.

“Anyone who tries to vacate you, tell them it’s the mayor, division chairperson and the town clerk who brought you here and therefore, you should make no step of going away,” Kayanja was heard telling the residents.

Mr. Stanley Namayirira the Division B chairperson (where the landing site is located) backed the mayor’s statement, vowing not to allow Maj. Nuwagaba, displace the residents “without a justified cause.”

“Nuwagaba and his team did not find any immature fish here and he is the very person who registered all the boats operating from this site,” noted Mr. Namayirira.

The army boss explained that, fishermen at the ‘newly established’ site, were using a 5.5-inch sized fishing net which according to him, is not allowed. “Initially, we had tolerated fishing with that size of the net but now we upgraded, and therefore, they should use a 7.5-inch sized fishing net,” added the army officer.

He went on, “There is a lot of indiscipline and hooliganism in that area courtesy of those residents, yet there is a girls’ school in the same area.”

Recently, the Wakiso district fisheries office declared the landing site illegal. This was through a letter addressed to the town clerk Entebbe municipality and copied to the mayor and several security officials, describing the “newly established” landing site as illegal. “This establishment is in contravention of the fish Act, Statutory Instrument no.33 which states that a person shall not land or dispose of any fish except at the landing sites,” read in part of the letter written by Mr. Michael Lubulwa the Wakiso district fisheries officer.

When contacted, Mr. Lubulwa confirmed the letter adding that, landing of fish in non-designated landing sites is one of the major causes of unregulated and uncontrolled destructive fishing malpractices and other illegal activities.

“I hereby wish to request the municipality officials to ensure that illegal fishing site in the above mentioned location, be closed and occupants relocated to either Nakiwogo or Kigungu or Buginga as these are the legally designated landing sites,” urged the district fisheries boss recently.

Residents of Makusa and Lwamunnyo islands were evicted from respective islands by the UPDF fisheries protection unit citing security reasons, poor fishing methods and poor hygiene hence settling at Mayanzi village, Entebbe municipality in Wakiso district. They have so far constructed new wooden houses at the site and most of them had already resumed with fishing activities, by the time Maj. Nuwagaba issued a directive for them to vacate the shores of Lake Victoria where they had resettled in May this year.

Source: https://excavatorug.com/resettled-island-residents-face-further-eviction

Over 1,000 evicted from Lwamunnyo in May, are facing further displacement by the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) Fisheries Protection Unit (UFPU, according to Army evicts encroachers, Monitor (3 March 2018)

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