CENTRAL UGANDA: You might have heard of mixed farming where different plants are intercropped. Probably you have never heard of mixed settlement where people live, though antagonistically, with aquatic creatures in wetlands. It is happening in the Kisubi-Mawugulu wetland in Katabi, Entebbe in the central district of Wakiso. People have intruded into the wetland, taken over the habitant for reptiles, frogs and other water creatures which they are living with or have displaced.
The human invasion has so disrupted the ecosystem and aqua life that both people and reptiles are now competing for space. The wetland purifies surface runoff or storm water from residences, impermeable surfaces such as roads and waste water flowing from the neighbouring hills of Kisubi, Mawugulu, Nalugala and Kitala that fringe the catchment area before pouring the filtered water into Lake Victoria.
A natural disaster loomed in 2021 when there was a rare rise of Lake Victoria levels. The waters surged and the lake burst its shoreline, submerging the human settlements in the wetland. The occupants fled their submerged houses to safer areas but returned this year when the water levels subsided and the lake started retreating gradually to its former shoreline.
The pit latrines and septic pits which had been dug or erected for waste disposal were destroyed by water, Today one can hardly tell where they previously stood.
Nearly the entire upper part of the Kisubi-Mawugulu wetland has been built up as you can see in the videos in this article. What used to be a natural habitat for water creatures such as reptiles, fish and maritime vegetation and plants is now a sight of human settlements fringed by marshes on the lower side facing the lakeshore.
Residents have further degraded the uninhabited part of the wetland with brickmaking. When Ugnature visited the area in 2023, there were several kilns standing in the middle of the wetland as the residents baked the bricks with firewood.
Other parts of the wetland have been converted for farming as pressure for more arable land for food production increases following the rapid urban population growth. Gardens of various food crops such as bananas, cassava, yams, potatoes, vegetables and sugarcane among others lie around the houses and other open spaces in the settlements.
Ugnature shot video footages capturing the relentless human invasion and degradation of the wetland. Some houses look more than 10 years old, meaning the degradation has been going on for a long time while others are new, which suggests they were built recently and confirms continuous degradation and encroachment. New construction works are ongoing in the wetland, pushing the water and aqua life further towards the Lake Victoria shoreline
When Ugnature contacted the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) whether the agency was aware of the wetland invasion and whether it would intervene, the spokesperson Tony Achidria said protection of wetlands is not their mandate.
He referred Ugnature to the Ministry of Water and Environment which he said is responsible for the management of wetlands.
“The lead agency for wetlands management is the Department of Wetlands at the Ministry of Water and Environment together with the respective local governments. NEMA handles regulatory activities,” Achidria told Ugnature.
Pressed further on whether NEMA cannot evict encroachers from wetlands, Achidria said: “We only support lead agencies but it’s not our primary role.”
The Ministry of Water and Environment was cagey when contacted for a comment.
The ministry spokesman Charles Muwonge declined to comment and referred Ugnature further to the Commissioner for Wetlands Lucy Iyango who also refused to speak, saying she needs authorisation from the Permanent Secretary.
Iyango asked Ugnature to write an official letter to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary seeking authorisation for a comment on the human encroachment of the Kisubi-Mawugulu wetland.
Residents told Ugnature that people often come to the area claiming to be officials from NEMA or Ministry of Water and reach the construction sites. However after talking to the principal encroachers in privacy, they leave without taking action. The encroachers proceed with the abuse of the wetland. This human invasion has interfered with or undermined the wetland’s principal function of filtration of wastewater or storm runoff before it enters Lake Victoria. This implies that the contaminated storm runoff and wastewater from residences and impermeable surfaces in the area goes unfiltered to Lake Victoria, polluting the lake water which sustains Kampala’s city population of about five million people and putting their health at great risk. The degradation and pollution also affect the aquatic life in both the wetland and the lake thus disrupting the entire ecosystem.